There are two methods that practices can employ to report individual PQRI measures or measures groups to Medicare. The first includes claims-based reporting, which involves submitting CPT II codes or numerator codes along with the usual services for the visit. The second involves registry-based reporting, and there are several commercial vendors that facilitate registry-based reporting.
To assist its members with PQRI reporting, the ACR has partnered with Outcome Sciences to develop a Web-based quality-measures recording and reporting tool—the Rheumatology Clinical Registry (RCR). The RCR will be available to ACR members in June 2009 and will provide additional resources including the ability to record patient history, complete the ACR practice-improvement modules (PIMs; used primarily for maintenance of certification), and track data related to supplementary ACR quality measures that are not currently part of PQRI. These include measures related to gout management and drug safety.
With the RCR, the ACR has created a user-friendly, intuitive Web-based platform that allows its members to enhance the care they provide to their patients. Anyone with Internet access can record and retrieve the essential elements of PQRI and PIMs or enter and record patient demographics and history. Future enhancements will include the ability to record a physical examination and clinical decision-making elements of the patient encounter.
For the practicing rheumatologist and other health professionals who are committed to improving patient care, interested in the integration of quality reporting and performance improvement for recertification purposes, or who would like to participate in quality reporting, the RCR provides a timely, optimal tool that has been developed based on the input of clinical rheumatologists.
Further details on PQRI can be found on the ACR Web site at www.rheumatology.org/practice. Information about the ACR quality measures can be found at www.rheumatology.org/practice/qmc/quality.asp.
For more information about the RCR, contact Amy S. Miller at [email protected], and for additional PQRI information, contact Melesia Tillman at [email protected].