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Media, PA – September 23, 2015 – Healthcare Administrative Partners (HAP), a leading provider of comprehensive medical billing, coding, and practice management solutions today announces the availability of new PQRS / VM Measure Assurance Services designed to help maximize opportunities for successful practice participation in these evolving programs. Developed by HAP’s team of revenue cycle management experts to meet the needs of clients across a variety of practice sizes and specialties, the PQRS / VM Measure Assurance Services provide both a baseline set of critical services required to support compliance efforts as well as optional services that can be selected on an as-needed basis. Core features include:

• Tools and support necessary to address Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) regulations and assist with reporting compliance.
• Education for practice staff on PQRS regulations, focusing on the incentives and penalties involved as well as the requirements necessary to optimize practice performance from both a quality and financial perspective.
• Actionable intelligence tools to support performance oversight and successful participation in the initiatives, including mastering the intricacies of PQRS quality reporting.

Included in the PQRS / VM Measure Assurance Services is HAP’s proprietary Provider Quality Report Card^TM that enables practices to easily assess performance throughout the year. This first-of-its-kind Report Card provides at-a-glance metrics on key program measures down to the individual provider level, helping to simplify the task of compliance monitoring and quickly expose opportunities for corrective action.

With the PQRS program continuing its complex evolution, many healthcare providers are challenged to comply with an ever-changing set of rules and processes that must be followed, both to retain full Medicare reimbursements for services rendered and to maintain publicly-accessible quality metrics. The PQRS and the Value-Based Payment Modifier (VM) work in-concert to determine either a positive, neutral or negative payment adjustment to the basic Medicare fee schedule, generally two years following the reporting year. While participation in the early years of the program was incentive-based, the current program has switched focus to an ever-increasing penalty-based model entailing significant revenue risk for provider non-compliance. Earlier this year, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) was signed into law, further expanding Medicare’s Quality Programs by creating a Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Under MIPS, a new payment adjustment schedule has been established where negative fee schedule adjustments begin at 4% in 2019 and rise to 9% by 2022.

Now that these quality-based programs and associated payment models are established law, and commercial payers are expected to adopt the standard in the near future, many healthcare providers have recognized the need to put a compliance plan into action. However, doing so requires expertise and guidance beyond the skill-sets found in most medical practices. According to HAP’s President, Brian Effron, the introduction of these PQRS / VM Measure Assurance Services reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to helping providers prosper throughout these types of challenges in the new healthcare economy. He states that, “Our clients have relied on our revenue cycle management expertise for over twenty years, but they will tell you that our value to them extends beyond the standard scope of billing and coding services. It is the diligence and expertise of our team that they truly appreciate. Now, with so many changes happening in the healthcare space, many of which directly impact practice revenue, there is a need for specialized support. We’ve designed our PQRS / VM Measure Assurance Services to meet this growing market demand. Our experts here at HAP are ready to guide practices through the complexities of these programs so that they can focus fully on patient care.”

The PQRS / VM Measure Assurance Services and Provider Quality Report Card are now available to all of HAP’s revenue cycle clients.

About Healthcare Administrative Partners
Healthcare Administrative Partners (HAP) is a leading provider of revenue cycle management solutions. We provide billing, coding, and consulting services to independent practices, academic practice plans, and other healthcare providers. As a trusted partner and business advisor, we cost effectively help providers address their complex business issues with solutions that maximize revenue, control costs, and minimize compliance risks. For more information, visit www.hapusa.com.

Contact Information
Chris Rosa, Director of Marketing
Healthcare Administrative Partners
crosa@hapusa.com
Telephone: 610-892-8889