American Academy of Family Physicians Supports Physicians as CMS Expands its Physician Voluntary Reporting Program (PVRP)

Summary: Dr. Bruce Bagley, medical director of quality improvement with the American Academy of Family Physicians, described his organization's willingness to support physicians as CMS expands its Physician Voluntary Reporting Program (PVRP), the role of electronic medical records in the CMS initiative, and predicted just how long this program will remain voluntary. Participating in PVRP can have a daunting effect on office work flow. Each time CMS adds a measure to PVRP, Beaver Medical Group in Redlands, California has to reconfigure its entire IT system. Dr. Bagley and Dr. Ronald Bangasser, a family practice physician with Beaver, provided an update on the CMS' voluntary reporting program and what impact the program will have on physician practices in 2007 during a January 9th audio conference, CMS' Voluntary Physician Reporting Program: Preparing for the Feedback and 2007 Updates.