On Sept. 9 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted a new fact sheet detailing Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) penalties for 2016. PQRS is a quality measure reporting program that uses penalties to incentivize provider participation. The 2014 PQRS reporting year was the first year in which successful PQRS participation was not associated with an incentive payment. Moving forward, the program will only be associated with penalties for non-participation. The new CMS fact sheet further details how penalties for non-participation are assessed.

Many American Academy of Sleep Medicine members already participate in PQRS through their electronic health record systems. Members who do not currently have an effective means of PQRS participation are encouraged to consider using the PQRSwizard program. PQRSwizard is an easy-to-use data registry for PQRS reporting. Members with additional questions about PQRS requirements can contact the AASM at coding@aasm.org.