QuicDoc® and Office Therapy® February 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to our February 2015 E-Newsletter. The staff at DocuTrac is committed to providing timely, intelligent, and accurate information that you as QuicDoc and Office Therapy users need in order to get the most out of your software.

What is PQRS?

The program provides an incentive payment to practices with EPs (identified on claims by their individual National Provider Identifier [NPI] and Tax Identification Number [TIN]).

Several PQRS program changes were included in health care reform legislation enacted in 2010. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires the implementation of timely feedback and the establishment of an informal appeals process by 2011.

The ACA also calls for PQRS payment penalties starting in 2015. CMS finalized in its 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule that 2015 program penalties are based on 2013 performance. Therefore, those physicians who elect not to participate or are found unsuccessful during the 2013 program year, will receive a 1.5 percent payment penalty, and 2 percent thereafter. In the 2014 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule, CMS finalized its proposal to base 2016 PQRS penalties off of 2014 reporting. Therefore, physicians who did not participate in PQRS in 2014 will receive a 2 percent penalty in 2016. 2014 was the last year a physician could receive an additional incentive for participating in the PQRS Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program or receive an incentive for participating in PQRS. In the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule, CMS finalized its proposal to base 2017 PQRS penalties off of 2015 reporting.

Beginning in 2015, the program also applies a negative payment adjustment to EPs who do not satisfactorily report data on quality measures for covered professional services. This CMS website serves as the primary and authoritative source for all publicly available information and CMS-supported educational and implementation support materials for PQRS.

PQRS Payment Adjustments for EPs

Under Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), covered professional services are those paid under or based on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). To the extent that eligible professionals are providing services which get paid under or based on the PFS, those services are eligible for PQRS incentive payments and/or payment adjustments. Click here for a complete list of all EPs that are affected by PQRS.

There are higher penalties for PQRS non-reporting - click here for payment adjustment information.

Beginning with the 2015 reporting period, failure to report, triggers 2 penalties: a PQRS non-reporting penalty of 2% plus a Value Based Payment Modifier (VBPM) non-reporting penalty ranging from 2 to 4%.

Time is Running Out for Mandatory E-Prescribing

Please contact our Sales Department at 800-850-8510 for more information.

Drug Reference MedlinePlus®

MedlinePlus is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. It is free and provides reliable, up-to-date health information on diseases, conditions, and wellness issues. With MedlinePlus you can look up information on drugs or supplements, find out the meanings of words, or view medical videos or illustrations. You can also get links to the latest medical research or find out about clinical trials on a specific disease or condition.

Best of all MedlinePlus is available in all the latest editions of QuicDoc. Click here to visit MedlinePlus.

ICD-10 Codes in Office Therapy

Have you updated your ICD-10 Codes yet? The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has the ICD-10 compliance date set for October 1, 2015.

Office Therapy V11.5 is designed to help you make an easy transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10, so when October 1st arrives, you will be ready to start sending payers the new codes. We’ve made the process fairly simple.

In the Office Therapy Client setup window click the Diagnosis tab. Then click the Modify button to convert codes. For step by step instructions, click here. View our Office Therapy video on the V11.5 update, on our Support Page under Support Videos, for further assistance. 

If you are current on maintenance, call our Support Department for help at 888-308-9683.

Notable Quote

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize
how good things really are.~Marianne Williamson

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