PHILADELPHIA – With a Dec. 31 deadline looming for physicians to qualify for bonuses under Medicare's 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, the Pennsylvania eHealth Initiative (PAeHI) is reminding physicians that IT help is available.

PaeHI issued an open letter to members noting there is still time to participate and earn up to a 1.5 percent bonus from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In addition, PAeHI members will also be able to participate in the 2009 program, which provides up to a 2 percent incentive bonus for Medicare PQRI registry quality measure submissions as well as a 2 percent e-prescribing bonus.

The PAeHI negotiated pricing for a reporting tool developed by Raleigh, N.C.-based DocSite.

"We felt this technology-based tool would benefit providers in a manner that would further promote the use of electronic health records," said Mark J. Jacobs, co-chairman of the PAeHI board. "It's a creative way where the PAeHI can determine favorable technology-based opportunities for our stakeholders in order to drive quality care in Pennsylvania."

DocSite PQRI provides physicians with a method to comply with guidelines for the PQRI, he said. Typically, the process can be completed in a few days with as little as two hours of staff effort.

"Any Pennsylvania physician who expects to see 30 patients who are 50 years or older before the end of the year should give serious consideration to participating in this low-cost preventive measure program," said John Haughton, MD, DocSite's founder and CEO.

He said physicians already using DocSite PQRI typically spend about 30-90 seconds to gather the required information during each patient visit. Online data entry then takes about a minute per patient on average.

What has been your experience with PQRI reporting? Send your comments to Bernie Monegain at bernie.monegain@medtechpublishing.com.