CMS approves Fresenius Medical Care Chronic Kidney Disease Data Registry

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the Fresenius Medical Care Chronic Kidney Disease Data Registry, supported by its Acumen applications. As a participating registry in CMS's 2010 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), the approval of the nephrology-specific Acumen applications enables participating nephrologists to report quality outcomes directly to the PQRI program.

“For 2010, we have added electronic prescribing to the full menu of nephrology-specific measures offered within Acumen PQRI.”

"As the largest nephrology-specific Electronic Health Record provider, Acumen continues to build on the tremendous success of our 2009 PQRI program," said Terry Ketchersid, M.D., VP and Medical Officer for Fresenius Medical Care's Health IT Services Group, LLC, which supports the Acumen applications. "For 2010, we have added electronic prescribing to the full menu of nephrology-specific measures offered within Acumen PQRI."

Acumen PQRI is the engine for the Fresenius Medical Care Chronic Kidney Disease Data Registry, a CMS-qualified registry for 2010 PQRI reporting. This registry offers providers the choice of one of the five CMS PQRI registry reporting options, focusing on the nephrology-related PQRI measures. Acumen PQRI facilitates reporting on the 2010 Chronic Kidney Disease Measures Group and the Diabetes Mellitus Measures Group. In addition, the registry will report on the three adult end stage renal disease individual measures available in 2010. New for 2010 is the added ability to report the CMS e-prescribing program through qualified registries.

With the Acumen PQRI system, registry-based reporting is streamlined, enabling a more efficient method of participating in the PQRI and e-prescribing programs. Acumen PQRI helps providers and their staff meet the reporting requirements for their chosen measures, measure groups, and reporting periods facilitating successful participation in these CMS pay for reporting programs. The CMS incentive payment for successful participation in each program in 2010 is 2 percent of the eligible providers' total allowed charges for Physician Fee Schedule covered professional services furnished during the 2010 reporting period. The CMS incentives are additive, with success in both the PQRI and e-prescribing programs delivering a potential 4 percent incentive payment.