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CMS-1403-FC
reducing eligible professionals’ costs for collecting
Medicare payments.
Response: We are bound by statute with respect to the
types of incentives that we can provide to eligible
professionals, how those incentives are calculated, and the
amount of the incentive. The only incentives we are
authorized to provide eligible professionals are an
incentive for eligible professionals who satisfactorily
report quality measures data through the PQRI as discussed
below and the new incentive that we are implementing in
2009 for eligible professionals who are successful
electronic prescribers as discussed in section II.O2.
below.
Comment: Other specific suggestions for improving the
PQRI provided by commenters include renaming the PQRI the
“Provider” or “Practitioner” Quality Reporting Initiative
to acknowledge potential participation of all types of
Medicare providers; separating the quality reporting from
the billing process by removing the requirement that “G”
codes are reported on the same claim as the denominator
service; developing guidelines on which measures are
appropriate for reporting by different medical specialties;
designing reporting options in a manner that would allow
smaller providers to more easily participate; considering
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