Registries Aid Providers In PQRS Participation
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
The IRIS Registry is just one of many Registries offering users an expanse of information while helping prevent Medicare penalties
The IRIS Registry (Intelligent Research In Sight) is a “centralized system for ophthalmology practices to promote practice innovations and achieve clinical excellence.” Its purpose is to provide for ophthalmologists reports that validate the quality care being provided and identify specific opportunities for improvement, access to clinically relevant data on diseases, quality measurement solutions, and automated data collection through electronic health record systems (EHRs).
It can also save practices Medicare penalties associated with meaningful use mandates over the next few years. According to EHR Intelligence, The IRIS Registry “will draw on EHR data and perform statistical analysis of the deidentified data in order to produce benchmarks, identify trends, and allow researchers to access a wealth of structured information.” EHR Intelligence goes on to explain, “Physicians who upload data into the registry will be automatically included in the IRIS PQRS reporting program. The data bank will extract the necessary information and send it to CMS on behalf of the physician, who will avoid upcoming Medicare penalties and gain incentives for PQRS (Physician Quality Reporting System) participation.”
Participation in PQRS - a program detailed by CMS - can save a “practice 2% of the looming Medicare reimbursement penalties slated to hit providers in the next few years for non-participation in meaningful use, value-based purchasing, and several other CMS quality reporting programs,” according to EHR Intelligence.
Steve Besch, Senior Systems Analyst for Ingenious Med, told EHR Intelligence, “I think there’s a large portion of the community that’s completely oblivious to the fact that there are penalties coming into play and that some of their revenue is going to be taken away in a few years based on their lack of participation” in the PRQS program.
The IRIS Registry is just one of many currently operating as detailed by CMS.