Otolaryngology Coding Alert

CMS: Youve got to be on top of your age, gender, dx. Most practices would agree that a 57.2 percent success rate isnt overly impressive -- but thats exactly what CMS found in its recent analysis of PQRI submissions. Almost 43 percent of the quality data codes (QDCs) that practices submitted to CMS were ineligible for the PQRI bonus because physicians reported them improperly, CMS noted in its Feb. 13 report, Quality-Data Code Submissions Error Report. The report analyzed PQRI submissions over the first three quarters of 2008. For 2009, the PQRI incentive payment is 2 percent of your physicians allowed charges under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. If youd like to keep that money flowing into your practice, avoid these errors that CMS found: 1. Missing NPI. CMS notes that 97,131 of the QDC submissions were missing their national provider identifier (NPI). For measure 64, (Asthma assessment), 52 of the [...]