2017 MIPS final scores released
July 13, 2018
NACOR News

2017 MIPS final scores released

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released group and individual scores to Eligible Clinicians (EC) for the 2017 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The scores will impact Medicare Part B payments on allowed charges in 2019. AQI does not have access to the final MIPS scores. ECs and practices must access their 2017 performance feedback and final scores by logging into their Enterprise Identify Management accounts via the Quality Payment Program (QP) webpage.

Most physicians and clinicians who bill Medicare were required to report MIPS in 2017. The only exceptions were physicians who were newly enrolled in Medicare, those participating in an Advanced Alternative Payment Model, or physicians and clinicians who had Medicare Part B allowed charges less than or equal to $30,000 or who provided care for 100 or fewer Part B-enrolled Medicare beneficiaries.

MIPS-eligible clinicians and groups may request review of 2017 MIPS scores

ECs and groups who believe errors were made in their 2017 MIPS scores may request a targeted review by CMS. The deadline to submit for a targeted review is September 30, and CMS may request practices submit additional documentation to support their appeal. CMS has released the following fact sheets and user guide describing the appeal process:

ECs who received three or more points out of a possible 100 points avoided a penalty. ECs and groups who scored above three points are expected to receive positive payment adjustments. Per statute, the positive adjustment for 2019 could be up to 4% (on a sliding scale from 0% to 4%) of the EC's/group's allowed charges in 2019 with the upper limit scaled to maintain budget neutrality (funds come from those who receive negative payment adjustments). ECs or their practices who earned less than three points will receive payment adjustments of up to -4% of their allowed charges. The 2019 payment adjustments are based on 2017 performance in the MIPS program.

Internal improvement measures released

AQI recently released Internal Improvement Measures for reporting to the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry (NACOR). The collection of 12 measures is intended for internal improvement purposes only and are optional for practices to report.

Reporting these measures may aid a practice in benchmarking their performance, demonstrating their value and quality care to payers and facility administrations or as part of practice and quality improvement initiatives. CMS has not recognized and will not accept these measures as part of an anesthesiologist's or practice's participation in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), or as part of an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM). AQI will not send data gathered on these measures to CMS.

Register now for 2018 NACOR 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.

Practices that are enrolled in Quality Concierge do not need to complete the 2018 order form. Registration automatically renews for these practices.

2018 Reporting Deadlines

NACOR Registration: October 31, 2018

January through November 2018 data submission: January 31, 2019

All data submissions: February 15, 2019

Contact AQI

Register: qcdr@asahq.org

NACOR Dashboard support: NACORSupport@ArborMetrix.com

Ask AQI: AskAQI@asahq.org



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