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.