CMS reports results of 2008 Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced the results for the 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). More than 85,000 physicians and other eligible professionals who satisfactorily reported quality-related data to Medicare under the 2008 PQRI received incentive payments totaling more than $92 million, compared to $36 million in 2007.
Providers can access their confidential feedback reports at the Tax Identification Number (TIN) level by visiting the secure PQRI portal at http://www.qualitynet.org/pqri. Trained Help Desk staff will assist providers with accessing their feedback reports at 1-866-288-8912 or at Qnetsupport@sdps.org. Support is available on Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time. In addition, individual professionals can access their feedback reports by contacting their Part A/Part B MAC at its Provider Contact Center.
Which Patient Gets into the OR First? Perioperative Leadership by Anesthesia is Critical
Anesthesia providers are being called upon to play a pivotal leadership roles in managing cases through the OR. It is in the best interest of the anesthesia providers or group to actively participate in the problem solving session with the hospital. The more ingrained you are the less likely that administration will go looking for a lower cost alternative to your anesthesia service. Read further to learn how Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, a 600-bed hospital in Marietta, GA, working with its anesthesia chief and Press Ganey, developed an innovative approach to this problem.
When several patients needing urgent or emergent surgery arrive at a hospital simultaneously, who decides which case gets into the OR first? For true emergencies, the decision is generally straightforward, with the patient rushed into the first available room.
But in many other situations, the decision is not as clear: Should the patient with an open fracture go first; should it be the patient with an ectopic pregnancy, or perhaps the patient with an intestinal obstruction? Does the most senior surgeon get the first available OR slot? Should the decision be made on the basis of first-come, first-served? Or maybe the most assertive surgeon gets his or her case in first?
Often the decision falls to the anesthesiologist of the day in the OR. But no matter who makes the decision, the competition between surgeons over this matter, and the daily arguments with anesthesiologists, cause frustrations to both surgeons and anesthesiologists. And at times, patients end up waiting for surgery longer than is clinically optimal.
Ideally, the decision should be based on an objective measure that reflects the clinical needs of the patient and gives surgeons, anesthesiologists, and OR staff a predictable and fair system for prioritizing their cases.
