Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: How can our practice benefit from Physician Quality Reporting Initiative's (PQRI) smoking cessation measure?Alaska SubscriberAnswer: To earn your PQRI bonus, your office must report on the percentage of patients aged 18 years and older who are smokers and who received advice to quit smoking. You should report this measure for a minimum of once per reporting period for all Medicare patients seen during the reporting period, (whether or not they use tobacco). You don't need any diagnosis for this measure.Why this measure is important: Performing interventions to control smoking makes sense because smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. In addition, clinical interventions are known to be effective in increasing cessation rates. Recommended physician guidelines include: (1) repeated advice and support at all or most visits, and (2) delivery of cessation assistance and follow-up at all or most visits.Include in the numerator patients who received [...]