The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) advise that physical therapists who successfully participated in the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) began receiving incentive payments on October 25, and all incentive payments will be issued by November 12.
The incentive payments will be made by the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) under which the claims were submitted.
For physical therapists working in a private practice, the payment goes directly to the practice, and the holder of the TIN determines how the incentive payments are distributed.
To determine if a payment identified on the electronic remittance advice is a PQRI incentive payment, look for remittance advice remark codes LE and PQ09.
CMS is also issuing the 2009 Confidential Feedback Reports via the Physician and Other Health Care Professionals Quality Reporting Portal as of the second week of November. TIN-level reports on the portal require an Individuals Authorized Access to CMS Computer Services (IACS) account. Click here for information about how to obtain an IACS account. Participants can also contact the MAC to request individual NPI-level reports. More information about contacting the MAC directly for the feedback report can be found in this educational article issued by CMS.
The PQRI resource center maintained by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA ), Alexandria, Va, includes information about the program, how to participate, and how to interpret the feedback report.
Measures for the 2011 program year will be announced via the 2011 Fee Schedule Final Rule, which should be released around November 1. The PQRI program will continue to pay an incentive through 2014. Beginning in 2015, eligible providers who do not participate will see a reduction in their fee schedule payment amounts.
[Source: APTA’s PT in Motion]
