PQRI Measures for Radiologists

There are several individual PQRI measures that apply for radiologists:

#10 - Stroke and Stroke Rehabilitation: Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Reports

Measure description
Percentage of final reports for CT or MRI studies of the brain
performed within 24 hours of arrival to the hospital for patients
aged 18 years and older with either a diagnosis of ischemic
stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) or intracranial
hemorrhage or at least one documented symptom consistent
with ischemic stroke or TIA or intracranial hemorrhage that
include documentation of the presence or absence of each of the
following: hemorrhage and mass lesion and acute infarction
AMA Data Collection Form
AMA Coding specifications

#11 - Stroke and Stroke Rehabilitation: Carotid Imaging Reports

Measure description
Percentage of final reports for carotid imaging studies (neck
MR angiography [MRA], neck CT angiography [CTA], neck
duplex ultrasound, carotid angiogram) performed for patients
aged 18 years and older with the diagnosis of ischemic stroke or
transient ischemic attack (TIA) that include direct or indirect
reference to measurements of distal internal carotid diameter
as the denominator for stenosis measurement1
AMA Data Collection Form
AMA Coding specifications

#145 - Radiology: Exposure Time Reported for Procedures Using Fluoroscopy

Measure description
Percentage of final reports for procedures using fluoroscopy that
include documentation of radiation exposure or exposure time
AMA Data Collection Form
AMA Coding specifications

#146 - Radiology: Inappropriate Use of “Probably Benign” Assessment Category in Mammography Screening

Measure description
Percentage of final reports for screening mammograms that are
classified as “probably benign”
AMA Data Collection Form
AMA Coding specifications

147 - Nuclear Medicine: Correlation with Existing Imaging Studies for All Patients Undergoing Bone Scintigraphy

Measure description
Percentage of final reports for all patients, regardless of age,
undergoing bone scintigraphy that include physician
documentation of correlation with existing relevant imaging
studies (eg, x-ray, MRI, CT, etc.) that were performed
AMA Data Collection Form
AMA Coding specifications

To get the 2% PQRI bonus, a radiologist will need to report at least 3 of the measures above for at least 80% of the applicable Medicare patients seen during the year of 2009.

There are 2 main options to report the above measures.

1 - Add the appropriate quality codes regarding each measure to each billing claim you send to Medicare. However if you start reporting now using this method you may not be able to receive the full PQRI bonus because you already missed reporting more than half of your 2009 patients (you need to report at least 80%). So you should report PQRI using a qualified PQRI registry:

2 - Using a qualified PQRI registry like MDinteractive a radiologist may report 3 of the above PQRI measures and make your 2% bonus. For the complete list of 2009 PQRI qualified registries check the PQRI CMS website

For further info read:

2009 Measure-Applicability Validation Process for Claims-Based Participation

CMS releases PQRI reporting measures that affect radiologists