Ingenious Med
Quality Measures™
Module Now Available
Ingenious Med is providing the IM Quality Measures™ module as a standard component of the
IM Practice Manager™ application for clients who wish to track
their internal quality of care data and/or participate in Medicare's
Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). PQRI has many
benefits to offer practices, both now as well as in the future, and the
IM Quality Measures™ module makes data collection and
submission simple and straightforward. If you are familiar
with PQRI and IM Quality Measures™ and already know you want to
participate, you can skip
to the "How Do We Get Started?" section below and submit your
registration form through the link provided there to begin the process.
PQRI Basics
PQRI involves the collection and reporting data confirming specific
services were rendered to patients who met a predetermined criteria
(the system is primarily diagnosis driven). The ultimate goal
of the program is verifying the standard of care is met in each
scenario identified within the measure list. PQRI includes
nearly 200 separate measures, and the criteria for proper application
of those measures can be complicated, and can change between reporting
periods. While some agencies may attempt to meet these
challenges with extensive
provider training and cumbersome add-on paper tools, Ingenious Med has
automated the system and integrated it into our existing IM Practice
Manager™ software.
Please click
here to see the CMS website for full details about the PQRI
program. Their site has general overviews for those new to the concept, as well as
highly detailed downloads for those already familiar with the program.
What
Is Ingenious Med Doing in Relation to PQRI?
Ingenious Med will be activating the IM Quality
Measures™ module for clients interested in
reporting a select set of measures offered for the current reporting
period (any subset of these measures may be activated based on each
group's preferences). While the measures currently available
are oriented towards the needs of our Hospitalist users, we do
anticipate adding additional measures in the near future. Click
here to review our Quality Measures FAQ page for more
information about PQRI and IM Quality Measures™. There is
also an
instructional page for the module available by clicking here (which
includes a short training video) if you would like to learn
more about how it functions.
Why Participate?
While
the current system allows for a 2% reimbursement per agency of total
Medicare billing for successful participation (which may or may not be
a significant amount for a given practice), in the coming years, the
focus is expected to shift from reimbursement strictly for measure
reporting towards reimbursement for actual quality of care, as
identified through the measures. The
trends in the program continue to indicate that PQRI is destined to
become a permanent part of the Medicare reimbursement system,
financial inducements will likely increase, and quality of care data
for individual physicians and agencies will be released to the public
as well. Practices
intent on maintaining the highest standards of care and receiving
maximum credit for their performance should strongly consider
participating in these voluntary reporting campaigns, with the full
expectation this investment of time will stand them in good stead
should reporting become mandatory in the future.
How Do
We Get Started?
If you are interested in activating the IM Quality
Measures module for your group, please follow this link to fill out our online
IM Quality Measures™ Participation Questionnaire.
When
you submit the questionnaire, you will be placed in our implementation
queue and the IM Support team will follow up with you accordingly.
Related
Links:
CMS Overview of PQRI
IM Quality Measures™ FAQ Page
Guide to Selecting Appropriate
Measures
Online
IM Quality Measures™ Participation Questionnaire