Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)

The Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), formerly known as the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, is a voluntary quality reporting program under the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), that provides an incentive payment to identified individual eligible professionals. As of 2010, group practices who report data on quality measures for covered Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) services furnished to Medicare Part B Fee-For-Service (FFS) beneficiaries also qualify. The PQRS began in 2007 as a result of the 2006 Tax Relief and Health Care Act requiring the establishment of a physician quality reporting system and including an incentive payment for eligible professionals who satisfactorily report data on quality measures for covered professional services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries.

According to CMS, the agency paid more than $234 million in Physician Quality Reporting System bonuses in 2009, $1,956 per eligible professional and $18,525 per practice. As of 2015, providers who are able to participate in the program but do not will see payment reductions from Medicare.

Resources

CMS Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) (cms.hhs.gov)

PQRS quality measures (cms.hhs.gov)