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CMS Selects DocSite to Pilot Test Electronic Reporting of PQRI Data

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 09:01 CDT

DocSite® (www.docsite.com), a leading provider of Web-based patient registries and point-of-care decision support to the healthcare market, today announced its selection by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a participant in pilot tests of methods for electronically reporting measurement data for the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). The two CMS pilots, which will occur during calendar year 2008, will separately evaluate patient registries and electronic health records (EHRs) as tools to facilitate physician reporting under PQRI. DocSite is one of 18 solutions selected to pilot test registries and EHRs and the only company participating in both pilots. Notably, the American College of Cardiology (ACC), which was selected in the registry category, uses DocSite technology as part of the Improving Continuous Cardiac Care (IC3) initiative, the first office-based quality improvement program of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry™. DocSite appears under its own brand name in the EHR category.

PQRI is a voluntary quality reporting program that offers a financial incentive to eligible professionals who opt to participate. The program provides for the payment of up to 1.5% of the total allowed charges for covered Medicare physician fee schedule services to eligible healthcare professionals who successfully report PQRI quality measures.

DocSite hopes that physicians who use DocSite to submit PQRI data will be able to avoid use of the "G-code / CPT-II" administrative coding process to obtain enhanced payments from CMS. CMS has not yet defined the clinical submission process leading to a 1.5% bonus for 2008 submitters, but, per the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, is required to have a process in place for 2008.

Jack Lewin, MD, Chief Executive Officer, ACC, says, "Greater transparency of health care quality is a goal to which we, as physicians, other health care providers, payers and consumers, should continue to strive. By taking advantage of health information technology, we can streamline care and save costs."

DocSite Chief Executive Officer and Founder John Haughton, MD, MS, says, "DocSite's selection as a participant in both pilots affirms the versatility of our product and the ease with which it can be integrated with diverse healthcare technologies. It also acknowledges that DocSite has accomplished the objectives for which it was founded: to provide physicians inexpensive, easy-to-use tools that immediately improve the quality of care delivered in the treatment room, ease the administrative burden placed upon them and maximize the financial reward they realize for delivering high-quality care that meets or surpasses evidence-based guidelines."

About DocSite, LLC

DocSite (www.docsite.com) is a clinical integration, connectivity and point-of-care technology company offering modular, upgradeable, Web-based tools that immediately improve the quality of care and save clinicians time. DocSite solutions give practitioners affordable, easy-to-use tools tied to evidence-based guidelines that reduce practice variation, enhance communication and support patient self-care initiatives. Thousands of physicians across the nation have already embraced DocSite products as the solution of choice for over 3 million patients. DocSite is endorsed by the Texas Medical Association and has been highlighted as a leader in chronic disease management systems/registries by the Physicians' Foundation for Health Systems Excellence. The firm works in partnership with independent practice associations, groups, health plans, hospitals and individual physicians to offer point-of-care, outcomes tracking, population warehouse and informed decision-making tools.

Source: Business Wire

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