--- title: How To Avoid the 5% MIPS Penalty This Year description: "In 2018, CMS is pushing even harder for the shift toward value based care. The minimum MIPS reporting score has increased from 3/100 to 15/100, and failing to report results in an automatic 5% reimbursement penalty. But if your practice or organization isn’t in a position to invest the kind of time, money, and resources that it takes to really go all in on VBC, you might be wondering: “what’s the minimum I can do to avoid the penalty?”" image: https://blog.healthmonix.com/hubfs/vitaly-taranov-145502-unsplash.jpg --- ![logo-light](https://blog.healthmonix.com/hubfs/logo-light.png "logo-light") - [Who we help](https://healthmonix.com/who-we-help/) - [Overview](https://healthmonix.com/who-we-help/) - [ACOs](https://healthmonix.com/acos/) - [Health systems](https://healthmonix.com/health-system/) - [Healthcare technology](https://healthmonix.com/healthcare-technology/) - [Physician practices](https://healthmonix.com/physician-practice/) - [Health system VPs](https://healthmonix.com/health-system-vice-presidents/) - [Chief financial officers](https://healthmonix.com/chief-financial-officers/) - [Chief medical officers](https://healthmonix.com/chief-medical-officers/) - [Chief quality officers](https://healthmonix.com/chief-quality-officers/) - [ACO executive directors](https://healthmonix.com/aco-executive-directors/) - [Solutions](https://healthmonix.com/prism/) - [MIPSpro](https://healthmonix.com/product/mips-pro/) - [Cost](https://healthmonix.com/product/cost/) - [ACO Impact](https://healthmonix.com/product/aco-impact/) - [Analytics](https://healthmonix.com/product/analytics/) - [Ambulatory Specialty Model](https://healthmonix.com/ambulatory-specialty-model-asm/) - [TEAM](https://healthmonix.com/team-program/) - [HealthConnect](https://healthmonix.com/health-connect/) - [Data integration](https://healthmonix.com/dataintegration/) - [Consulting](https://healthmonix.com/consulting-services/) - [Score optimization](https://healthmonix.com/score-optimization/) - [Patient matching](https://healthmonix.com/patient-deduplication-and-matching/) - [Outcomes](https://healthmonix.com/outcomes/) - [Company](https://healthmonix.com/company/) - [Our story](https://healthmonix.com/company/) - [Team](https://healthmonix.com/team/) - [Careers](https://healthmonix.com/healthmonix-careers/) - [Resources](https://healthmonix.com/resources/) - [Help and support](https://healthmonix.com/customer-support/) - [Healthmonix Advisor](https://blog.healthmonix.com/) - [Webinars](https://healthmonix.com/our-webinars/) - [Educational resources](https://healthmonix.com/mips-education/) - [Help and support](https://healthmonix.com/customer-support/) - [Contact us](https://healthmonix.com/contact-us/) - [Measures](https://healthmonix.com/mips-measures/) - [Quality](https://healthmonix.com/mips-measures/mips-quality-measures/) - [CMS specialty sets](https://healthmonix.com/cms-mips-specialty-measure-sets/) - [Promoting Interoperability](https://healthmonix.com/mips-measures/mips-promoting-interoperability-measures/) - [Improvement Activities](https://healthmonix.com/mips-measures/mips-improvement-activities/) - [Cost](https://healthmonix.com/mips-measures/mips-cost-performance-category/) - [Log in](https://healthmonix.com/login/) # Healthmonix Advisor # How To Avoid the 5% MIPS Penalty This Year Posted by [Usman Safdar](https://blog.healthmonix.com/author/usman-safdar) on June 14, 2018 ![](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/8ed31da7d62a50ed6c76e24ece3bc185) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) In 2018, CMS is pushing even harder for the shift toward value based care. The minimum MIPS reporting score has increased from 3/100 to 15/100, and failing to report results in an automatic 5% reimbursement penalty. But if your practice or organization isn’t in a position to invest the kind of time, money, and resources that it takes to really go all in on VBC, you might be wondering: “what’s the minimum I can do to avoid the penalty?” There is no one answer to this question, but the good news is that your practice has several options for how to report to earn a score of at least 15/100. ![vitaly-taranov-145502-unsplash](https://blog.healthmonix.com/hubfs/vitaly-taranov-145502-unsplash.jpg) #### Minimal Quality Reporting **For small practices (15 clinicians or less)** In order to meet the minimum score, your small practice must select at least 6 Quality measures (although if possible, we recommend selecting more than the minimum), and must report on at least one eligible instance that meets the performance for each Quality measure (10 to 20 eligible instances recommended to be safe). This will result in a score of at least 3/10 in each Quality measure, or a total of 18/60 in Quality if you report on 6 measures. In turn, a Quality score of 18/60 is re-weighted to a final MIPS score of 15/100. Also note that for 2018, small practices are also eligible to receive a MIPS bonus worth 5 points. **For large practices (16 clinicians or more)** In order to meet the minimum score, select as many Quality measures as possible (we recommend at least 6 to be safe). Then, report on at least 60% of patient visits from 2018. This enables you to score at least 15/100. If you choose this method and score higher, you may also receive a small incentive!   #### IA Attestation **For small practices (15 clinicians or less)** Select 1 high-weighted activity or 2 medium-weighted activities to earn full 20 points in this category. Then, attest to the completion of your selected activities. This results in a score of 20/20 in IA, which is re-weighted to a final MIPS score of 15/100. **For large practices (16 clinicians or more)** Select 2 high-weighted activities, 4 medium-weighted activities, or 1 high-weighted activity and 3 medium-weighted activities to receive full 40 points in this category. Then, attest to the completion of your selected activities. This results in a score of 40/40 in IA, which is re-weighted to a final MIPS score of 15/100. So don’t take the hit! Instead, be proactive and get started with MIPS reporting today—your bottom line will be glad you did. In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more about your MIPS reporting options, talk to a member of our [quality reporting team](https://healthmonix.com/contact-us/) today. 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