PQRI 2010 Performance Measures

Pay-for-performance initiatives are developed in nearly all sites of service to focus on the performance of quality medicine. In December 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) finalized its list of performance measures specific for the 2010 initiative, which began January 1, 2010, or, if physicians are reporting for 6 months, beginning July 1, 2010.

For 2010, there are three reporting options: claims-based, registry, and measures groups. In regard to chest medicine, the eight specific measures (two for COPD, four for Pneumonia, and two for Asthma) are the same as in previous years, with the addition of a Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) measures group for the year 2010. Specifications of these measures are detailed on the CMS Web site under "measures codes." Additional information, along with a sample of quality reporting specific for chest physicians, can be found on the ACCP Practice Management Web site.

The ACCP encourages practices to participate in PQRI. If you have any PQRI-related questions, please contact the ACCP Coding and Reimbursement Consultant, Diane Krier-Morrow, at dkriermorr@aol.com or (847) 677-9464.