The Pulse is the bi-weekly e-newsletter from The Physician Alliance, one of Michigan's largest physician organizations serving more than 2,200 primary care and specialty physicians.
The Pulse of The Physician Alliance
Friday, Nov. 11, 2016
Free webinar focuses on transitioning from CMS' MU/PQRS/VBM to the Quality Payment Program
Don't miss a free webinar on Tuesday Nov. 29 at 12:30pm to learn what eligible clinicians and their organizations need to do to be successful in this transition year and to prepare for future reporting years.
The CMS legacy programs - EHR incentive program (Meaningful Use) for eligible professionals; Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS); and Physician Value-based Payment Modifier (VM) are transitioning to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) in 2017. The QPP is a multifaceted program composed of four performance categories - quality; improvement activities; advancing care information; and cost.
Objectives include:
Provide an overview of the Quality Payment Program (QPP).
Gain an understanding of the two paths for QPP - MIPS vs APMs.
Identify the QPP timeline and key dates.
Understand CMS "Pick your Pace" options.
Identify key components of QPP to successfully transition to MIPs/APM.
BCBSM Patient Centered Medical Home program recognized in MACRA payment program
In October, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the final regulations of the Quality Payment Program, part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Within the regulations, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's Patient-Centered Medical Home program was included as a regional quality program that meets the criteria for physicians to earn merit-based incentives. This significant decision made by CMS recognizes the hard work of primary care physicians participating in the Physician Group Incentive Program.
Discounted PQRS online reporting assistance now available
The Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) is a voluntary reporting program developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It is a reporting program that uses a combination of payment adjustments to promote the reporting of quality information by eligible professionals (EPs).
EPs that are providing services that get paid under or based on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule are considered eligible for PQRS reporting. Eligible professionals who do not satisfactorily report data on quality measures for covered professional services will incur a negative payment adjustment.Those who report satisfactorily for the 2016 program year will avoid the 2018 PQRS negative payment adjustment. The reporting deadline is Feb. 28, 2017 at 5pm. For more information, click here.
The Physician Alliance partnered with two vendors to provide assistance to practice reporting PQRS data. Both partners are CMS Qualified Registry vendors. Visit our website for more information on these vendors.
--PQRSWizard: $249/per physician Click here for the online discount link.
The PQRSWizard provides step-by-step approach to help ensure that eligible professionals meet all of the data, scoring and attestation requirements before they submit their PQRS reports to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). PQRSwizard is powered by the CECity Registry, a CMS-certified registry for PQRS. Similar to online tax preparation software, the PQRSwizard is a web-based tool to guide EPs through a few easy steps to help rapidly collect, validate, report, and submit the results to CMS.
--Wellcentive: $279/per physician Click here for the online discount link (code: 5656) Wellcentive offers a PQRS user interface and support line to help physicians extract their data via Excel or manual entry via the website. If your data is currently included in Wellcentive via TPA's disease registry, Wellcentive can easily extract data to the PQRS software.
*You must use the links provided to receive the discount pricing. You are NOT required to work with these vendors - these options are provided as a courtesy to TPA members.
Ferlito Construction provides construction and/or design services at discount pricing for The Physician Alliance members. TPA members receive FREE interior design services and 5 percent off total construction costs.
The Physician Alliance | 20952 Twelve Mile, Suite 130, St. Clair Shores MI 48081 | 586-498-3555
thephysicianalliance@thephysicianalliance.org | www.thephysicianalliance.org
