Physician Organizations Who Participate in PVRP Will Be Eligible for a 1.5% Incentive Payment Starting in July 2007.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c50062) has announced the addition of CMS' Physician Voluntary Reporting Program: Analyzing the Feedback and Preparing for 2007 Updates, an Audio Conference on CD-ROM to their offering.

CMS' Physician Voluntary Reporting Program: Preparing for the Feedback and 2007 Updates, an audio conference on CD-ROM, examines the voluntary reporting of quality measures by physician practices to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Industry experts had predicted that CMS' physician voluntary reporting program (PVRP) would be tied to physician reimbursement in the near future. Now, with legislation passed by Congress this December, physician organizations who participate in PVRP will be eligible for a 1.5 percent incentive payment starting in July 2007.

During this 90-minute audio conference on CD-ROM, industry experts provided lessons learned on participating in the PVRP, how to incorporate the upcoming PVRP results into an overall quality improvement program and what 2007 will bring for PVRP.

Dr. Bruce Bagley, medical director of quality improvement with the American Academy of Family Physicians and Dr. Ronald Bangasser, a family practice physician with Beaver Medical Group, Redlands, Calif., provided an update on CMS' voluntary reporting program, the impact the program will have on physician practices in 2007 and how physicians can get that extra reimbursement starting in July.

You will get details on:

* Evaluating whether your practice should participate or continue to participate in CMS' voluntary program;

* Preparing for participation in the program;

* What data collection efforts your practice should put in place;

* Lessons from organizations already participating in the voluntary reporting program; and

* What 2007 will bring to the program.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

Dr. Bruce Bagley

Bruce Bagley, M.D., is the medical director for quality improvement for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The AAFP represents more than 94,000 family physicians, family practice residents and medical students nationwide.

Dr. Bagley's current responsibilities with the AAFP include liaison work with other national organizations in the quality arena and active participation in the development, deployment and implementation of performance measures. He provides clinical oversight for quality improvement programs and products developed by the AAFP.

In his active leadership role with the AAFP, Dr. Bagley was chairman of the board in 2000-2001, after having served as president in 1999-2000 and after having been president-elect in 1998. He also chaired the AAFP's Task Force on Hospitalist Physicians, the Task Force on Obstetrics in Family Medicine, the Task Force on Quality Enhancement, the Task Force on Quality in Family Medicine and the Ad Hoc committee on electronic medical records.

During his practice career, Dr. Bagley provided the full range of family medicine services in a single specialty group practice in Albany, N.Y. Under his leadership, the 10-person group was a pioneer in the community in adapting to the challenges of managed care, quality improvement and informatics.

Dr. Bagley has spoken extensively on the topics of performance measurement, office redesign, electronic health records and leadership and has authored many publications on the subject of family medicine and practice. He is a 2005-06 Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award examiner.

Dr. Bagley received a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his medical degree from Albany Medical College. His served his residency at St. Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y.

Dr. Ronald Bangasser

Dr. Ronald P. Bangasser is a board-certified family physician and director of external affairs for the Beaver Medical Group in Redlands, Calif. He is also the medical director of the Wound Care Department at Redlands Community Hospital.

Dr. Bangasser is a member of the California Delegation to the America Medical Association (AMA) and in June 2005, he was re-elected to AMA's Council on Medical Service and is currently their chair-elect. He is also the secretary of the AMA Foundation's Board of Directors. In March 2003, he was elected president of the California Medical Association. He still serves on CMA's Workers Comp TAC and as the chair of the P4P TAC and a consultant for their Council on Quality Care.

In addition to his activities on the state and national levels, Dr. Bangasser has been president of the San Bernardino County Medical Society, chief of staff at Redlands Community Hospital and medical director of the Beaver Medical Group and the Redlands Medical Group.

In 2002, he was appointed to the NCQA's Committee on Performance Measurements and the Practicing Physicians' Advisory Committee. He also joined the Board of the Integrated Healthcare Association in 2001 and serves as the chair of the Pay for Performance Technical Committee.

Dr. Bangasser received a medical degree from Chicago Medical School and served his residency at the San Bernardino County Medical Center and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice and an associate professor at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c50062