Credit Freeze Hinders PQRS Feedback, AOA Offers Guidance

Precautionary credit freezes could obstruct doctors' access to Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) feedback reports, AOA warns, as fallout of a profession-wide data breach continues to dog optometry. Guidance is offered below for doctors to continue to access these feedback reports. 

Background

This fall, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made available 2015 PQRS Feedback Reports to show whether doctors satisfactorily reported and if they were subject to a 2 percent payment penalty assessed on their 2017 Medicare Part B claims. These unsuccessful 2015 PQRS participants were notified via letter from CMS shortly after.

Given CMS' decision to markedly increase 2015 reporting measures, doctors were encouraged to immediately review these feedback reports and provide input to the AOA if they were assessed a 2017 payment penalty. However, prudent action on the part of doctors and students to place a freeze on their credit to hedge against an ongoing, unresolved wave of identity theft may inadvertently hinder this review process.  

Guidance to Access Feedback Reports

AOA confirmed that doctors who froze or blocked their credit cannot immediately access their 2015 feedback reports as CMS' Remote Identity Proofing (RIDP) process uses the credit reporting agency Experian to verify identities. If access to your feedback report has been frozen, you must contact Experian's Consumer Assistance at 1-866-578-5409 to temporarily lift the credit freeze. Experian Consumer Assistance hours are Monday through Friday from

5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to

5 p.m., PST. Click here to review CMS guidance on the RIDP process.  

In the meantime, AOA will continue to press for action, including federal investigation into the breach, to provide peace of mind for COA-AOA members and colleagues.