CMS sets submission deadlines for 2015 PQRS data

Have you submitted your 2015 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) data yet? If not, you still have time to do so without incurring a penalty in 2017.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the 2015 PQRS data submission deadlines, which vary depending on how you plan to submit your data:

•    Electronic Health Record Direct or Data Submission Vendor (quality reporting data architecture I/III) – Feb. 29
•    Qualified Clinical Data Registries (quality reporting data architecture III) – Feb. 29
•    Group Practice Reporting Option Web Interface – March 11
•    Qualified Registries (such as the PQRS Wizard) – March 31
•    Qualified Clinical Data Registries XML – March 31

All submission deadlines end at 8 p.m. (EST) on the date listed. You will need an Enterprise Identity Management (EIDM) account with the “Submitter Role” for these PQRS data submission methods. Please see the EIDM System Toolkit for additional information.

Also, be aware that the Physician and Other Health Care Professionals Quality Reporting Portal may be unavailable while the system is undergoing maintenance. Maintenance is currently scheduled for the following time frames (all times are EST):

•    Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. – Feb. 29 at 6 a.m.  
•    March 11 at 8 p.m. – March 14 at 6 a.m.  
•    March 16 at 8 p.m. – March 21 at 6 a.m. 

Eligible professionals who do not satisfactorily meet the 2015 PQRS requirements will be subject to a reduction in payment on all Medicare Part B Physician Fee Schedule services rendered in 2017.

For questions, please contact the QualityNet Help Desk at 1-866-288-8912 or via email at Qnetsupport@hcqis.org from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. (CST). Complete information about PQRS is available on the CMS web site.  

– Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment for the American Academy of Family Physicians