MGMA to CMS: Speed up EHR for PQRI

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) has called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to speed up the process through which data can be reported via EHR for the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) P4P Program.

“MGMA urges CMS to quickly finalize testing the PQRI reporting mechanism via EHRs,” wrote William F. Jessee, MD, president and CEO of MGMA, in an Aug.28 letter to CMS commenting on the proposed 2010 Physician Fee Schedule. CMS should also, Jessee wrote, move quickly to “allow for 2010 PQRI participation through qualified EHRs, and release the EHR measure specification information to vendors in an expedited fashion.”

In addition to the PQRI, MGMA commented on CMS’s proposals in three other areas:

Equipment usage assumption: MGMA opposes the increased utilization assumption for all equipment priced over $1 million. The change, MGA said, is based on erroneous assumptions and will result in a low payment rate that will make it financially unfeasible for physicians to perform imaging services in their offices.

Implementation of physician accreditation standards: The association said it has concerns about proposed revisions implementing the accreditation requirements for advanced diagnostic imaging services in the Medicare Improvements for Patients & Providers Act (MIPPA). For example, one proposed regulation would require an accrediting body to use information acquired through the accreditation process against the supplier should CMS decide to take action against that supplier. MGMA “believes that the process of accreditation is educational, offering healthcare providers an opportunity to learn about the applicable requirements and strive toward meeting those requirements,” wrote Jessee. “To turn an accrediting body into a potential adversary interferes with the goal of an industry-wide cooperative effort to improve the quality of care for all patients.

Physician resource use measurement and reporting: With transparency a primary goal of CMS’ value-based purchasing (VBP) initiatives, MGMA “remains extremely concerned over the agency’s continued use of proprietary commercial episode group software,” wrote Jessee, calling the logic behind this usage “unsound.”  According to Jessee, unless providers have access to information concerning how the software was developed and costs allocated to episodes, they will “likely dismiss the reports as inaccurate or not applicable to their specific practice and patient population."