ASCRS met with CMS officials last week to discuss the Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and e-prescribing (eRx) Experience Report for 2009. In the detailed analysis released by CMS last month, ophthalmology received the highest percentage of e-prescribing incentive payments of any specialty in 2009, the first year of e-prescribing. For the 2009 reporting period, nearly 4,000 ophthalmologists received a total of $30 million (mean $7,494, median $6,160) — approximately 20 percent of CMS’ Medicare e-prescribing incentive payments in 2010. CMS reports that 30 percent of the 19,000 eligible ophthalmologists participated in the first year, the highest of any specialty. Ophthalmologists also had the highest success rate of any specialty, 71 percent:
In the PQRS program, ophthalmologists achieved performance rates of 90% or higher for five different measures (in order of performance percentage):
*96.97% - Measure 139 - Cataract: Comprehensive Preoperative Assessment for Cataract Surgery with Intraocular Lens (IOL) Placement),*not retained by CMS because it was not endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF)
92.84% - Measure 18: Diabetic Retinopathy: Documentation of Presence or Absence of Macular Edema and Level of Severity of Retinopathy
93.58% - Measure 14: Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD): Dilated Macular Examination
93.00% - Measure 19: Diabetic Retinopathy: Communication with the Physician Managing Ongoing Diabetes Care
90.89% - Measure 141: Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG): Reduction of Intraocular Pressure (IOP) by 15% OR Documentation of a Plan of Care
90.53% - Measure 12: Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG): Optic Nerve Evaluation
(Percentages indicate performance among eligible professionals submitting valid measures, regardless of whether they met the 80% satisfactory reporting requirements.)
Also of note,Measure 19: Diabetic Retinopathy: Communication with the Physician Managing Ongoing Diabetes Care, showed the largest percentage point improvement in clinical outcomes, with a 41% performance rate increase between 2007 (52%) and 2009 (93%).
To view the report, please click here.
