TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alpha II, LLC, a leading developer of software platforms, software as a service and publications that support the healthcare revenue cycle, announced today that it has developed a Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Registry to successfully collect and report 2015 PQRS data – as outlined by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) – on behalf of individual providers and group practices. The Alpha II Registry is a secure, integrated, web-based solution that provides data validation for reporting and performance rates, to help ensure a practice's outcomes and attestation requirements are met. Unlike many registries focused on certain specialties, the Alpha II Registry is able to report on all quality measures – including individual and group – and for all specialties, through a platform of data collection, editing and submission services.
As CMS begins to apply the Physician Feedback/Value Based Modifier under the Affordable Care Act, the reporting of objective, evidence-based, actionable data is crucial to understanding and enhancing the industry's quality and efficiency of care. The CMS PQRS Program enables providers to better quantify how often they are meeting a particular quality metric and compare their performance on a certain measure with peers in order to improve the care they deliver. The quality measures generally vary by specialty, and focus on areas such as care coordination, patient safety and engagement, clinical process and effectiveness, and population and public health.
"Alpha II has always taken on a leadership role in addressing the data reporting challenges that physician practices face," says Jan Powell, CEO of Alpha II. "With a variety of measurement options and guidelines, understanding and meeting PQRS requirements can be an overwhelming task, especially since the types of measures reported and reporting frequencies can change from year to year. Combined with our intuitive registry, our team's vast experience and knowledge of the PQRS program helps to streamline the reporting process, resolving any confusion or stress associated with it."
Historically, participation in the PQRS program was encouraged by CMS through incentive payments for satisfactory reporting. Beginning this year, however, in an attempt to reward value rather than volume, CMS will apply negative payment adjustments to all providers who do not satisfactorily report data on quality measures for covered professional services.
Powell adds: "We're proud to work alongside some of the most prominent software developer partners in healthcare to ensure the Alpha II Registry seamlessly integrates with existing electronic health record, practice management and other platforms so the unique needs of each office are met and data is sufficiently reported to obtain optimal feedback and maximum reimbursement."
Each program year, CMS conducts a vetting process of all self-nominated PQRS registries to determine those that are qualified and compliant with PQRS data collection and submission requirements. Following an extensive five-month self-nomination and attestation process, the Alpha II Registry was CMS-qualified for the 2014 PQRS reporting year, and has self-nominated and submitted its validation strategy to become CMS-qualified for the 2015 program year. Acknowledgement of this distinction will be made by May 30, 2015.
For more information on the Alpha II PQRS Registry, please visit www.alphaii.com.
About Alpha II
Alpha II's software platforms, software as a service products and publications support coding, compliance, claims editing and revenue analysis for healthcare professionals, clearinghouses and government entities – both directly and through software developers. Beginning with the initial receipt of patient data through the final scrutiny of the payer's remittance advice, Alpha II empowers precision across the revenue cycle. The company's toolsets, data content and rules engines currently plug and play with electronic health record, practice management and hospital information systems to help their customers comply with the latest policies, standards and directives.
For more than 30 years, the Alpha II experienced healthcare professionals have worked together to gather, analyze, and interpret healthcare coding and billing rules and regulations. Additional information can be found by visiting www.alphaii.com, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.