Medical practice leaders have voiced their frustration with Medicare's Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), citing the lack of data for improving patient outcomes, the administrative burden of participation, the difficulty accessing and downloading the 2007 feedback reports and the delay from the time data was submitted to the time reports were available.
"While (the Medical Group Management Association) and its members support initiatives that help physicians provide high-quality patient care, these data highlight the fundamental problems with this program," said MGMA President and CEO William F. Jessee, MD. "We implore CMS (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) to heed our members' feedback and make necessary changes."
An overwhelming percentage (92.9 percent) of respondents reported difficulty accessing their reports. On average, practices spent five hours downloading their final 2007 PQRI feedback reports from the CMS Web site. In addition, 63 percent of respondents reported having difficulty capturing and submitting data.
Of the practices able to obtain their PQRI reports, 69.8 percent reported "low" or "no" satisfaction with the document's guidance in improving patient care outcomes.
"Members tell us that their frustrations also stem from the 18-month lag time between their initial reporting and receipt of the results," said Jessee. "To truly improve patient care, programs such as PQRI must provide timely, actionable clinical information to physicians."
The group's data shows that the program has penalized practices trying to do the right thing for their patients by wrapping them in red tape, he said.
MGMA wants CMS to implement efficient reporting mechanisms for group practices, such as statistical sampling, which was authorized in the recently passed Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008.