February 21st is the last day you can apply for 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) funding. PQRI awards a bonus equal to 2% of the total amount you billed to Medicare/Medicaid in the given year. If you're a health care provider you are almost certainly eligible for this money. Don't let the window lapse! It’s not too late. An average GP can compile a PQRI report in a few hours. Electronic Heath Record (EHR) system users can do it even faster.

The concept, at least, is simple:

PQRI applies to services billed under a certain set of CMS claim codes. You create a report based on the eligible claim codes you used during the year. PQRI dictates how frequently each claim code can appear on the report: codes linked to periodic care for chronic conditions, like diabetes mellitus, can be reported perhaps only once per year per patient, whereas codes linked to specific care for acute conditions, like heart attack or stroke, can be reported as many times as you used them. Once you have the report, you assess whether or not you met the PQRI care requirements associated with each claim code on your report. Your rating will be a ratio of the all requirements you met to all the claim codes you listed.

Easy, right? Much more so when a computer does it for you. EHRs have awesome reporting capabilities; as EHRs increase in strength and prevalence, quality assessment practices of every stripe will become standard throughout the industry. So cash in while incentives are still being offered!

Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to apply for 2009 PQRI funding. The CMS PQRI portal has additional information and resources, including a toolkit. The AMA also has a resource page and toolkit.

If you're not sure you can pull a 2009 PQRI report out of your hat by yourself, consider consulting an EHR technician- even if you're not currently using an EHR. Many EHR providers are offering PQRI-related support. There are also services available online, for a fee. If you think you'll qualify for a large bonus, hiring a consultant might be worth the expense.

Act quickly. You've already earned it- go ahead and claim it! If not for 2009, think ahead to 2010. Failing to participate in PQRI might disqualify you for other forms of funding (it will almost certainly be a prerequisite for participation in the ARRA program rewarding the “meaningful use” of EHRs, for instance). Don't miss out. Start the process today!

A few years ago, anticipating changes in the wake of new federal requirements, several major players entered the Personal Health Record (PHR) arena, notably Google and Revolution Health (founded by Steve Case, co-founder of AOL). Well, today we learn the Revolution Health application is folding…while Google continues to grapple with public relations after media reports linking use of their application to medical errors.

These applications were targeted directly to patients, not health care providers. Patients are a.) entrenched in the current system, having never before been asked to maintain their own records, b.) not knowledgeable about medical data and how to interpret it, and c.) largely wary of technology. Those who aren’t wary may be cynical about the compatibility of PHR data between providers. It’s hardly surprising they’ve been slow to adopt, given the absence of institutional support.

So the initial ventures appear to be faltering…but don’t be deceived. We are hurtling towards a PHR-based records model. As more providers meet the national Electronic Health Record (EHR) conversion deadline, the PHR model will make the most logistical sense. It makes common sense as well. Think about it: Americans move on average every six years. They traverse a field littered with specialists and urgent care facilities. The only common denominator in the health history of a modern patient is the patient him/herself.

To wit, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) aggressively promotes PHRs among Medicare/Medicaid clients. Patient advocates have never stopped beating the drum. The question is not whether, but when and how PHRs will catch fire.

It might pay you to be ahead of the curve. As time and testing have repeatedly established: electronic records save money. A patient with a PHR costs $0 in administrative overhead. You won’t have to pay your staff to chase down hospital lab results or spend time on the phone with insurance companies. Plug it in, press a button and everything will be right in front of you. Press another button and send it to any other provider or pharmacy anywhere, instantly.

If that doesn’t sway you: the government is sweetening the deal. HHS will distribute billions of dollars this year in stimulus funding to health care providers who put EHR systems to what they call “meaningful use”. Last week the officer in charge of the program, Joshua Seidman, confirmed integrating PHRs into your system can help you qualify.

Steven Schiff, a California cardiologist, posted in favor of PHRs at the Huffington Post yesterday. A longtime user of EHR technology, he dispels a common concern about the future of progress notes…well worth a look.

For a more wonkish and thorough evaluation of the value of PHRs, you can download the Center for Information Technology Leadership (CiTL) PHR research report.