OUTCOME Selected as Qualified Registry for 2008 PQRI Reporting

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Outcome Sciences, Inc. (OUTCOME), the leading provider of patient registries, studies, and technologies for evaluating real-world outcomes, today announced the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has selected Outcome’s TotalQuality™ registry as a qualified registry to submit quality data for the 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI).

PQRI is a voluntary program that will provide a financial incentive to physicians and other eligible medical professionals who successfully report quality data related to covered services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). A PQRI participant who reports successfully will earn a lump-sum financial incentive of 1.5 percent of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule allowed charges for covered services provided during 2008.

As part of the PQRI registries approval process, CMS conducted a detailed analysis of each registry, checking their capability to provide the required PQRI data elements, reviewing a measure flow, which checks to see whether the registry calculates the measure’s reporting and performance rates correctly, and transmitting the required information.

“Outcome’s TotalQuality registry provides an easy and cost-effective solution that will help eligible professionals comply with the PQRI requirements while further enhancing the quality of patient care,” said Richard Gliklich, MD, President and CEO of OUTCOME. “Our registry is currently used by a large number of national specialty associations, physician practices and health systems to improve patient care. The ability to use patient registries as a means to achieve PQRI reimbursement is a significant step forward and we are proud to be able to offer this to our participants.”

About OUTCOME

OUTCOME is the leading provider of patient registries, studies, quality improvement programs, and integrated technologies for evaluating real-world outcomes. OUTCOME provides services and technologies focused on evaluating the safety, effectiveness, and quality of healthcare products and services. The company has designed, developed, and managed more than 100 patient registries, including many of the largest and most well-recognized programs for disease outcomes and patient safety. Outcome’s TotalQuality™ is the leading clinical quality measurement registry.

OUTCOME is also an AHRQ DEcIDE Research Center, a component of the “Effective Health Care” initiative sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. OUTCOME was selected by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to lead the effort to create the patient registries handbook “Registries for Evaluating Patient Outcomes: A User’s Guide,” released in May 2007. For more information, please visit www.outcome.com.