Top 10 Tips About the Physician Quality Reporting System for Palliative Care Professionals

The U.S. healthcare system is shifting from a fee-for-service (FFS) system to a valued-based reimbursement system focused on improving the quality of healthcare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) as an important component of this transition. All clinicians, including physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants who bill to Medicare Part B FFS, should submit quality data to the PQRS in 2015 or they will receive up to a 4% negative reimbursement penalty in 2017. As implementing and reporting PQRS measures can be a daunting task, especially for palliative care professionals, this article provides high priority tips identified by the authors for PQRS reporting in the palliative care field.