If you have two or more clinicians billing with the same Tax Identification Number (TIN) in your practice, you should consider reporting MIPS as a group to gain some administrative relief and possibly increase your chances for success. According to CMS data, the majority of practices are choosing to report as a group. There are many reasons why group reporting is the preferred option for clinicians. Let’s take a look at what group reporting means, and why it may benefit your practice.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many changes to our daily lives, including a surge in the use of telemedicine. During the past few months, more clinicians and their patients have been turning to telehealth appointments so patients can safely receive the care they need. In response, CMS announced many changes to support telehealth, including payments for Medicare telehealth services furnished to patients in broadened circumstances and an expanded list of clinicians who can provide these services. Clinicians offering telehealth services to their patients may want to consider how this is relevant to their MIPS reporting. In this article, we have identified a list of Quality measures and Improvement Activities that can be reported for telemedicine services.

MIPS eligible clinicians, groups and virtual groups can now apply for the 2020 Promoting Interoperability (PI) Hardship Exception or the MIPS Program Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception. Applications must be submitted to CMS by December 31, 2020. Exceptions will be available to those who meet certain criteria established by CMS. Those who qualify for automatic reweighting of PI reporting do not need to apply for this exception.

During these unprecedented times, you can rely on MDinteractive to stay on top of any MIPS reporting changes and continue to communicate important updates. As you begin to think about your MIPS reporting for 2020, some measures you reported in the past may no longer be available to report this year or may have had significant revisions. In this article we have outlined some key points to consider as you select measures to report, including a list of removed measures, so you can make your reporting plans with confidence.

As we put the 2019 MIPS reporting year behind us, it is helpful to start planning for 2020 since some of the requirements have changed. The number of MIPS points needed to avoid any penalties has increased to 45 MIPS points (up from 30 points in 2019) and you must reach 85 MIPS points for an exceptional performance bonus (up from 75 points). Payment adjustments are also higher at +/-9% (up from +/-7%), so the financial risk of not reporting is much greater. Before you get started with your reporting, go through this 2020 MIPS Reporting Guide to understand your reporting obligations and prepare a strategy to help your practice meet its reporting goals.

‘Tis the season for MIPS! We know this can be a stressful time of year, but using a CMS approved Qualified Registry such as MDinteractive can simplify your MIPS reporting and help you cross it off your to-do list. Not only can registries help you stay on top of the changing rules each year, but they can also provide useful tools to simplify the reporting process so you reach your MIPS goals. In this article we have listed some of the top reasons to consider using a registry like MDinteractive and the ways in which we can make your MIPS reporting less stressful.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its Final Rule for the Quality Payment Program (QPP), with several changes to MIPS in 2020 and future reporting years. The Final Rule continues to gradually increase the reporting requirements under the MIPS program. In this article we will highlight the most important changes you need to know for the 2020 performance year and how they could impact your bottom line. We will also cover how CMS plans to transform the program in 2021 to reduce your reporting burden.

Cost is the fourth performance category under the MIPS program and makes up 15% of your total MIPS score for 2019 (up from 10% in 2018 and 0% in 2017). This category will steadily increase to 30% by the year 2022 when it will have the same weight as Quality. If CMS is unable to calculate a Cost score for a clinician, the category will be reweighted to Quality. While clinicians can relatively quickly change their MIPS Quality score by tracking some specific outcomes (e.g., track smoking status and give cessation advice), Cost is more challenging. It is more complex with many different variables, so monitoring Cost becomes important as it contributes more towards your final MIPS score. MDinteractive can help you access your CMS performance feedback reports which will provide your Cost score from prior MIPS reporting years.  In this article we will explore the different cost measures, how they are scored and the potential impact on your practice.

CMS has released the 2018 MIPS performance feedback. The feedback will include a clinician or group’s performance category scores, final MIPS score and payment adjustment information. Any upward, downward or neutral payment adjustment will apply to the clinician or group’s 2020 Medicare Part B payments for covered professional services. CMS is allowing a Targeted Review to be requested until September 30, 2019.

The 2019 MIPS performance period is in full swing. MIPS eligible clinicians and groups must achieve at least 30 MIPS points in 2019 to avoid any penalty. If they choose not to report, it’s an automatic 7% penalty against their 2021 Medicare Part B payments.  We have developed this MIPS Reporting Checklist to explain your reporting options and help you plan your strategy for participating in MIPS this year.