Chicago — (June 19, 2008) 

Anesthesiologists who participated in the 2007 PQRI program can expect to receive payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) between July 14 - July 30, 2008. Payments will be issued to the billing Taxpayer Identification Number. A single check that covers all providers who reported PQRI measures will be sent to the group. Participating anesthesiologists can also receive a confidential feedback report that will include individual performance and national average performance comparison information. CMS anticipates these reports to be available in mid-July.

In order to receive your report, you must register via CMS's "Individuals Authorized Access to CMS Computer Services" (IACS) system. (Note: you do not need to register via IACS to receive your payment for the 2007 program). Registration is required in order to limit access to reports to authorized individuals. CMS needs some time to process report registrations, and thus, recommends you register as soon as possible. Group practices or those physicians who plan to allow staff to access their information can register now. Individual physicians who will not permit others to access their information will be able to register on/after June 30.

For more information on the IACS process, please see CMS's website. CMS intends to issue additional information and we will post that on the ASA website as it becomes available.

Slides from CMS June 18, 2008 National Provider call PPT File

For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists website at www.asahq.org. For patient information, visit LifeLineToModernMedicine.com

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