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An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Quality Assurance/Improvement

Practice Page: What PQRI Means to Rheumatologists

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The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PRQI) is a voluntary quality reporting program initiated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2007. CMS provides bonus payments to eligible providers who successfully report on applicable PQRI measures. For 2010, rheumatologists who successfully participate in PQRI can earn an incentive payment of 2% of the…

Motivating Employees

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Motivating employees might be a subject that administrators and managers shy away from, but it is true that employers can increase productivity, quality, and service through positive motivation in the office.

Managing Patient Records

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Physician practices handle patient records that contain sensitive information—including financial, demographic, and medical data—on a day-to-day basis. This type of information can put a practice, as well as the patient, at risk if not handled properly. Rheumatology practices should make sure that they have policies and procedures in place for keeping and distributing patient records. In fact, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has set a national standard for the privacy of health information.

Meet the Model Biologics Policy

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At its February meeting, the ACR board of directors approved the Model Biologics Policy, which will be used when discussing guidelines and patients’ quality of treatment with health insurance companies.

Industry Support & Quality Initiatives

Kenneth Saag, MD, MSc, Gary Bryant, MD, Brian Feldman, MD, MSc, David Felson, MD, Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH, Salahuddin Kazi, MBBS, and Kristen McNiff, MPH  |  

How the ACR manages conflict-of-interest policies

Breaking Down Medical Decision Making

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The medical decision making (MDM) of an evaluation and management visit is just one part of a patient’s visit. Rheumatologists can make the mistake of thinking that the level of visit can be determined just by the MDM, but that is often not the case.