Check your MIPS eligibility now
CMS recently released the 2018 MIPS Participation Lookup Tool for practices to check on 2018 eligibility. Eligible clinicians can use their National Provider Identifier, or NPI, to see if they need to participate during the 2018 performance year to earn a potential positive payment adjustment in 2020.
CMS has changed the 2018 low-volume threshold for the 2018 performance period. Clinicians and groups will be excluded from MIPS if they fall under one of the following categories:
- Receive $90,000 or less in Medicare Part B allowed charges for covered professional services under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS)
- Furnish covered professional services under the PFS to 200 or fewer Medicare Part B-enrolled beneficiaries
Don't fall behind; register now for 2018 NACOR quality reporting
Practices interested in registering for 2018 NACOR Quality Reporting can now begin the enrollment process by completing the new online order form. Practices that were enrolled in 2017 and would like to continue in 2018 will need to complete an order form. Participation agreements auto renew. AQI’s NACOR quality reporting options include Quality Concierge and NACOR Standard. NACOR Basic does not include quality reporting.
NACOR delivers for MIPS-exempt providers too
Are you wondering what to do if you are exempt from MIPS quality reporting? Anesthesia providers who are exempt from MIPS in the 2018 performance year should consider AQI’s NACOR to submit data that will ultimately help to better understand performance, improve the quality of care delivered and demonstrate successes.
NACOR Basic with benchmarking allows practices to report their billing and administrative data, as well as continue to report quality measures (MIPS and QCDR) without submitting to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Submitting data through NACOR Basic will help build consistent, year-over-year quality and outcomes data that will help you:
- Negotiate contracts with hospitals
- Report quality data to private insurers to negotiate fee increases
- Benchmark performance against 20,000 participants
- Provide support for mergers, sales and acquisitions
For many individual physician anesthesiologists and their practices, the most impactful data is not always captured for national payment program purposes, according to Registry Reporting Beyond Federal Payment Programs in the March 2018 issue of the ASA Monitor. Reporting local quality measurement and improvement activities through NACOR can help practices understand where performance gaps exist and benchmark data against their peers nationally.
Check out 2018 pricing for NACOR solutions. Practices interested in enrolling should complete the 2018 NACOR Order Form and select the NACOR Basic service to help benchmark patient outcomes, identify areas for local quality improvement and demonstrate quality and value metrics for contracting.
Register for 2018 NACOR quality reporting
2018 NACOR pricing
2018 NACOR Data Definitions
2018 QCDR Measure Booklet
2018 Recommended Improvement Activities
Question: What is the code for Quantum 31?
Quantum 31 is a licensed measure for MEDNAX and it has no AQI Measure ID. The denominator includes CPT procedure codes, not ASA codes. This measure should be reported by providers who actually place the central line, not by providers who provide anesthesia for central line placement. Since MEDNAX is the measure steward for Quantum 31, all questions should be directed to MEDNAX.
Question: Have measure specifications changed from 2017 to 2018?
Yes, the QCDR measure specifications have changed from 2017 to 2018. For more details, refer to the new 2018 QCRD Measure booklet.