by Roy Edroso

For CY2023 changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) and Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), CMS focuses its attention on the MIPS Value Pathways (MVP), a new measures regimen that begins on a voluntary basis in 2023. A mandatory adoption deadline remains fluid.

by Roy Edroso

A flurry of new proposals from HHS and CMS centered around “health equity” suggests that federal agencies may soon require providers to perform equity related tasks, and experts believe data collection is likely to be the first attainable goal.

by Roy Edroso

Experts are getting a closer look at the ACO REACH model CMS suddenly unveiled in February, and it’s looking good for ACOs who don’t have unlimited financial resources, as well as for the advancement of CMS’ health equity cause. After months of controversy over the CMS Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) model from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), CMS announced Feb. 24 that, starting in 2023, the program would be transformed into the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (REACH) model, or ACO REACH. Its participants would be called ACOs instead of Direct Contracting Entities (DCE) (PBN 2/28/22, 3/7/22).

by Roy Edroso

After their first year of using the Alternative Payment Model (APM) Performance Pathway (APP) reporting method, participants in the Shared Savings program are spared further challenges as CMS delays the full transition to electronic clinical quality measures (eCQM) and MIPS clinical quality measures (MIPS CQM) and scales back some program requirements. 

In our recent interview with Lauren Patrick, we discuss her journey into computer science and subsequently healthcare technology. As the founder and CEO of Healthmonix, she is helping practice groups optimize their data and analytics in order to improve their quality of care scores and ultimately, help doctors provide the best care to patients. Our transcript has been edited, but you can listen to the full podcast episode here.

By Paula Hartman-Stein, Ph.D.

The first quality improvement system implemented by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS) in 2007 was designed to improve healthcare quality and reward clinicians for their efforts. The newest iteration, the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), has similar goals but focuses on value not volume while saving money for CMS by making it more difficult for clinicians to obtain bonuses while raising penalties.