MACRA and MIPS Resources

According to CMS, The Quality Payment Program makes Medicare better by helping you focus on care quality and the one thing that matters most – making patients healthier. The Quality Payment Program ends the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and gives you new tools, models, and resources to help you give your patients the best possible care. You can choose how you want to take part based on your practice size, specialty, location, or patient population.

This page offers a list of resources for practices and providers who are grappling with the change. If you have suggestions for other resources which may be shared on this page, please email:  info@wyomed.org.

AMA Resources For MACRA and MIPS

The AMA continues to hear from physicians who feel unprepared to participate successfully in Medicare’s new Merit-based Incentive Payment System, despite the transitional flexibility provided for 2017.  In particular, it seems that physicians who never participated in Medicare reporting programs before need basic information on how to avoid a payment penalty in 2019 through minimal reporting in 2017.

To help address this need, which we believe is particularly acute for physicians in smaller practices, the AMA is extending “Pick Your Pace” activities to run through the end of the year to disseminate simple instructions on how to report “one patient, one measure, no penalty.”    To help amplify our outreach for this educational effort, we are encouraging state medical societies and national medical specialty societies to participate and share this information from now through Dec. 31.

The AMA developed a short video, entitled “One patient, one measure, no penalty: How to avoid a Medicare payment penalty with basic reporting,” which is accessible on the AMA web site at ama-assn.org/qpp-reporting.  Also on this web site physicians can find a sample CMS-1500 claim form, links to quality measures on the CMS web site, a link to the CMS MIPS eligibility tool, and other materials.   Please visit this page, view the resources, and consider joining us for a coordinated outreach to physician practices so that we can help as many physicians as possible avoid a negative 4 percent Medicare payment reduction in 2019.

NEW: MIPS Action Plan
The AMA has released a new customizable resource, the MIPS Action Plan, geared towards helping physicians think strategically about how to successfully implement MIPS in 2017. This resource will help physicians determine the right course of action for their practice, provide recommended steps to meet program requirements, and measure their performance against important milestones. DON’T DELAY – act now to avoid penalties and succeed in MIPS for 2017.

Other available resources:

Customizable MIPS tool helps physicians build QPP strategy

How physicians participate and perform in 2017 will affect their Medicare payment rates in 2019, yet a recent survey found that most physicians don’t consider themselves deeply knowledgeable about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) new Quality Payment Program (QPP).

The AMA has acted on the findings by providing QPP resources on how to participate, avoid penalties and succeed, particularly under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track. A new customizable resource, the MIPS Action Plan, helps physicians choose and implement a practice QPP strategy, fulfill regulatory requirements, avoid federal penalties and have an opportunity for performance-based incentive payments.

The MIPS Action Plan addresses key steps for 2017 QPP participation:

  1. Determine whether MIPS applies to you.
  2. Review available performance categories.
  3. “Pick Your Pace” for MIPS participation.
  4. Review your data.
  5. Decide whether to report as an individual or a group.
  6. Identify your reporting mechanism.
  7. Perform a security risk analysis.
  8. Report for at least 90 days (CMS deadline: Oct. 2, 2017).
  9. Complete MIPS performance (CMS deadline: Dec. 31, 2017).
  10. Submit 2017 MIPS data.

Physicians who have yet to participate in the QPP program or are new to quality improvement, to explore the interactive MIPS Action Plan and other free resources and tools. A more in-depth explanation of these steps is available in a supplementary frequently asked questions file.

On step two, for example, the FAQ file offers advice and strategies on which quality measures to choose.  This includes opting for those that are most representative of your practice, such as ones that apply to the patients you see or the procedures that you perform frequently enough to ensure you have a minimum of 20 cases.

Advice is also given specifically for smaller practices as well as information on meeting minimum requirements to avoid a penalty or earning maximum points.

Free PRIME Registry Offer By ABFM

The ABFM has just announced that it is offering the PRIME Registry FREE to the first 2,000 board-certified family physicians who sign up! One major advantage of this offer is that you can also report for MIPS for free through PRIME—though physicians must sign up before July 31, 2017 to be ready to report for the 2017 MIPS performance period (the ABFM will continue to enroll Diplomates for free until the 2,000 slots are exhausted).

Even if you miss the MIPS advantage deadline, family physicians and their primary care colleagues and mid-level providers as well can benefit from PRIME. The PRIME Registry is currently helping nearly 3,000 primary care clinicians get data out of their EHRs to view any performance gaps and reduce reporting burden. In fact, more than 1,100 clinicians used PRIME to report for PQRS this year! Additionally, many have been able to use the PRIME registry to identify gaps in care at the individual patient level. PRIME is also supporting hundreds of family physicians in reporting data for several federal practice transformation demonstrations including TCPI and CPC Plus.

Already enrolled in the PRIME Registry? Great news! The ABFM is also offering three additional free years to any Family Medicine Diplomates who have already signed up. And after the initial three years, PRIME cost is only $295/Diplomate/year. For all other family physicians, primary care colleagues, and mid-level providers, the cost is only $360/clinician/year.

For more information or to take advantage of this offer visit:  www.primenavigator.org or call 888-995-5700