We’re thrilled to offer you a sneak peek atHealthmonix’s upcoming rebrand,which will launch this month. Get ready to bid farewell to our current look and embrace the new Healthmonixas we embark on a transformative journey.
Healthmonix's journey to a new look and expanded focus on value-based care
Topics: Healthmonix
Further thoughts on the 2024 Final Rule and the Quality Payment Program
Background: Under the Quality Payment Program (QPP), eligible clinicians face payment adjustments determined by their performance in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or choose to participate in the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) track. Those in MIPS see their payments increased, maintained, or decreased based on relative performance in four categories: Quality, Cost, Promoting Interoperability, and Improvement Activities.
Clinicians participating in an Advanced APM are exempt from MIPS and were initially qualified for a 5% bonus payment. However, after the expiration of the 5% bonus, Congress reauthorized the bonus at a reduced rate of 3.5% for the year 2023. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced a new alternative to traditional MIPS known as the MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs), which is a voluntary option for eligible clinicians.
The program continues to evolve at a macro level, as CMS has a vision to move providers out of ‘traditional MIPS’ and into other reporting options such as APP for Shared Savings participants, MVPs for those still in fee for service, and APMs for other provider programs. In addition, CMS continues to pursue the Universal Foundation. Providers need to be prepared for bigger shifts in their quality reporting strategies as CMS aligns programs under the National Quality Strategy.
Below we explore some of the key takeaways from the 2024 PFS Final Rule impacting the QPP program.
In the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule released yesterday, CMS is emphasizing getting the Quality Payment Program (QPP) “back on track with the trajectory we had planned before the public health emergency (PHE)”. They’re focused on ensuring that the program resumes its intended progress, which was interrupted during the PHE over the last few years.
Here's an initial breakdown of what this means.
Medicare Shared Savings Program announces savings and quality results for 2022
Quality scores matter!
The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) saved $1.8 billion for Medicare in 2022, according to last month’s announcement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.1 This marks the second-highest yearly savings since the program’s start. It further underscores the program’s track record of consistently generating savings and delivering high-quality performance for the sixth consecutive year, as noted by CMS.
Topics: ACO, MIPS Reporting
Overcoming Challenges in Patient Matching and Deduplication for ACO Quality Reporting
ACOs have encountered challenges with aggregating, matching, and deduplicating extensive, disparate patient data required under the eCQM and MIPS CQM quality measure collection types. Patient matching and deduplication are needed to accurately calculate quality metrics from data across multiple practices and EHR instances.
Read on as we unravel the challenges and several methods to overcome these challenges.
Topics: MACRA & MIPS, MIPS CQMs, MIPS Reporting
In the ever-evolving healthcare world, staying current is vital. Orthopedic surgery, particularly arthroplasty, has been at the forefront of the shift toward value-based care models. With certain procedures already subject to bundled payments for over a decade, the integration of cost measures within the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is a game-changer.
Read on as we unravel the vital details of this essential aspect of modern healthcare performance assessment.
Topics: MACRA & MIPS, MIPS CQMs, MIPS Reporting
Hospitals are seeing the impact of the MIPS Cost Category for 2024 reimbursements.
With 2022 MIPS final scores available, hospitals and health systems have seen the Cost category produce a major impact on their overall MIPS scores.
Before CMS added the Cost category to 2022 MIPS scores, hospitals had little insight into how it would impact MIPS scores. With scores out, we see that many hospitals and health systems were scored on over 10 Cost category measures. That’s a large amount of data to sift through and analyze.
Topics: MACRA & MIPS, MIPS CQMs, MIPS Reporting
CMS releases final 2022 MIPS performance scores and 2024 incentives
Are you ready to jump back into the MIPS program?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have released Final Performance Feedback for the 2022 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance period. We are seeing record maximum incentives of 8.25% for providers who achieved top scores.
Topics: MACRA & MIPS, MIPS CQMs, MIPS Reporting
What is a Medicare CQM? The new proposed quality reporting option for MSSP participants.
In the 2024 Proposed PFS Rule released in July 2023, CMS outlined a new option for MSSP participants to report quality measures called the Medicare CQM option. CMS created this reporting option to address concerns raised by ACOs and others, while still transitioning ACOs toward digital quality measure reporting.
Read on to learn more about the new proposed option for MSSP participants.
Topics: MACRA & MIPS, MIPS CQMs, MIPS Reporting
MIPS Cost category impacts oncology practice scores in 2022
With 2022 MIPS preliminary scores available, oncology practices are increasingly seeing how the Cost category negatively affects their overall MIPS scores.
Before CMS added the Cost category to 2022 MIPS scores, research hinted that oncology and other specialties with higher healthcare costs might face more adverse effects than other specialties. Numerous oncology practices opted for an Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances (EUC) exemption for the Cost category in 2022, mitigating the impact of cost measures on them.
Read on to learn more about how MIPS Cost scores are affecting Oncology practices.
Topics: MACRA & MIPS, MIPS Reporting, MIPS Cost