Press Release

Manasquan, N.J., USA, December 23, 2005 – While Medicare physicians face statutorily imposed payment reductions from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the next seven years, the federal agency is offering these doctors a chance to get feedback on their data accuracy, reporting rate and clinical care. By participating in CMS’ Physician Voluntary Reporting Program, physicians can inform CMS about the quality of care they provide to Medicare beneficiaries. In return, CMS will evaluate the physicians’ performance levels based on the submitted data.

To decode the options, submission guidelines and timetable of this voluntary program, the Healthcare Intelligence Network is sponsoring CMS' New Voluntary Physician Pay-for-Performance Program: Identifying the Opportunities, a live interactive audio conference on January 26, 2006. The 90-minute audio conference, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, will detail how CMS’ new call for voluntary reporting of quality measures will impact physician practices in coming months. For more information, please visit the HIN bookstore.

The CMS is collaborating with medical professionals and Congress to revamp the way Medicare compensates physicians for providing services to Medicare beneficiaries, while avoiding increases in overall Medicare costs. The Physician Voluntary Reporting Program is modeled on a similar CMS initiative that evaluates hospital quality measures. That effort resulted in the creation of Hospital Compare, a web-based tool that allows individuals to compare the quality of care provided by participating hospitals to adults with certain conditions.

“Physicians have been slow to embrace the concept of pay for performance, but industry insiders say it’s in the physicians’ best interests to voluntarily submit data to this program,” advises Melanie Matthews, HIN executive vice president and chief operating officer.” Getting in on the ground floor gives physicians a first-hand look at how the CMS will use the data, she explained. “It’s also the physicians’ chance to help shape the reporting process by providing suggestions for improving the ease of reporting and usefulness of the quality measures,” she added.

During HIN’s 90-minute audio conference, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, industry experts James Fisher, director, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Robert Fortini, clinical operations manager, Community Care Physicians, will illuminate the fine points of the voluntary program to help physicians in the decision-making process. They’ll provide details on: ? Evaluating whether a physician practice should participate in CMS' voluntary program;

• Examining the opportunities that exist for physician practices under the voluntary PFP program;
• Preparing for participation in the program;
• Putting data collection efforts into place now; and
• Learning from the lessons of CMS' hospital voluntary reporting program.

The audio conference will be held on January 26, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. The audio conference is structured to meet the information demands of the following decision-makers: CEOs, CFOs, financial managers, chief medical officers, chief nursing officers, medical directors, quality improvement executives, managed care contracting executives, practice management executives, health plan executives, strategic planning directors, consultants and physician organization leaders.

During the final half hour of the audio conference, panelists will be available to respond to participants’ questions. An on-demand rebroadcast of the audio conference can be accessed beginning January 31, 2006 and a CD-ROM recording with printed transcript will be available in mid-February. For registration information and details on audio conference formats, please visit: the HIN bookstore.

About the Healthcare Intelligence Network---HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. For more information, contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit http://www.hin.com.

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