PQRI Information

Additional 1.5 Percent Payment Available on All Medicare Claims

Cardiothoracic surgeons can receive an additional 1.5 percent bonus payment on all of their Medicare claims from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008, by participating in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI).

Helpful PQRI Resources

• CMS PQRI Tool Kit: Includes "Coding for Quality: A Handbook for PQRI Participation" and data collection worksheets.
• CMS Transcripts and Recordings of National Provider Calls
• STS Coder Sheets (Specific to CT surgery measures; help identify Category II codes. Available for both adult cardiac and general thoracic surgery.)
• Documentation Sheets for Physicians (Specific to CT surgery; help coder to determine appropriate charges. Available for both adult cardiac and general thoracic surgery.)
• PQRI Preparation Tips For additional information or questions, please contact Ellen Clough at eclough@sts.org.

PQRI Registry Test

• Registry Test Information (4/16/08 e-mail)
• Surgeon Data Sharing Consent/Release Form
• Registry Test Custom Field Activation (4/16/08 e-mail)
• Registry Test Information (5/19/05 e-mail)