Senate Finance Committee Recommends Ways That Medicare Can Enhance Current Physician Quality Reporting Initiat...( Highlights the Role of Certifying...),Health

Highlights the Role of Certifying Boards in Quality Measurement & Improvement

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Recognizing that PQRI - Medicare's new program for rewarding physicians based on performance - needs to be improved, the Senate Finance Committee has issued recommendations to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to include alternatives for measuring and reporting performance, including "registry-based" methods that are a part of the specialty certifying boards voluntary assessment programs. If implemented correctly, these alternative approaches would reduce reporting redundancy and accelerate physician quality improvement efforts, according to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

The recommendations were included in a letter from Senators Baucus and Grassley to CMS and were in response to the recent Medicare legislation [MMSEA, section 101(b)(2)(B)] authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services to enhance the PQRI program by aligning Federal efforts with those of other quality leaders, including certifying boards, specialty societies, NQF and NCQA.

"The Senate Finance Committee's recommendations could help sharpen the government's approach to improving quality while, through alignment, reduce the time and systems needed for physicians to meet the myriad reporting requirements they face from health plans, hospitals, and the government," said Christine Cassel, President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine. "This would leave more time for physicians to do what they do best - deliver care to America's patients."

In their recommendations to CMS, Senators Baucus and Grassley highlight certifying board's expertise in quality measurement and argue that, "Physicians should be recognized and rewarded for registry-based reporting of performance data that combines information regarding Medicare, Medicaid, and other patients." They emphasize that many specialty
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