CMS To Pay Physicians More Than $36M In Incentives For Participating In Quality Reporting Initiative

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 17 Jul 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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CMS officials on Tuesday announced more than $36 million will be paid out to health professionals who reported data on the quality of care delivered between July 2007 and December 2007, in accordance with its Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, CQ HealthBeat reports.

PQRI, a voluntary program established in 2006, offers health providers bonus payments of 1.5% of their total CMS-covered payments during the reporting period for reporting quality information. The average incentive payments for the first round of the program will be $600 to individual physicians and $4,700 to group practices. The largest payment to a practice will be more than $205,700.

The program included participants from all 50 states and several U.S. provinces. Health professionals in Florida and Illinois will receive the majority of the payments, totaling $3 million and $2 million, respectively.

CMS acting Administrator Kerry Weems said, "These payments to physicians for participating in the PQRI are a first step toward improving how Medicare pays for health care services" (Cooley, CQ HealthBeat, 7/15).

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