Volume 1 Ed. 11 | October 2018
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Acumen Seeking Feedback on Cost Measures by 10/31/
18
CMS and its contractor, Acumen, LLC, are conducting a field test for 11 episode-based cost measures and two re-evaluated cost measures before consideration of their potential use in the cost performance category of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) of the Quality Payment Program.
Field testing will take place from
October 3–31, 2018
. During this time, clinicians and clinician groups who meet the attribution requirements for at least one of the measures indicated below will have the opportunity to view a field test report with information about their cost performance.
All stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the measures and supplemental documents
through an
online survey
, which closes October 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Participation in field testing is voluntary.
Measures that will be field tested include:
- Eleven new episode-based cost measures currently under development.
- Two cost measures undergoing re-evaluation.
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Deadline for Submitting a MIPS Targeted Review Extended to October 15, 2018!
On September 13, 2018, CMS updated the MIPS 2017 performance feedback for clinicians affected by scoring issues previously identified through the targeted review process. Clinicians who believe an error exists in their 2019 MIPS payment adjustment calculation can still request a targeted review by the
extended deadline
of October 15 at 8 p.m. ET
.
Note: As a result of the update and to ensure that MIPS maintained the budget neutrality required by law under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), some clinicians may notice a slight change in their payment adjustment.
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Quality Payment Program Specifications and Benchmarks Now Easily Available!
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The Quality Payment Program website recently added the specifications and benchmarks for each measure.
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Enterprise Identity Management (EIDM)
Account Reminders
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MIPS submission is approaching. Have you established an EIDM role for submission? Learn more about the appropriate roles you will need
here
.
If you have an EIDM account, following are some tips to keep your account active and to create a strong password.
Passwords must:
- Be changed every 60 days.
- Be changed prior to expiration.
- Are changed by going to portal.cms.gov > My Profile>Click on Change My Profile>Change Password.
- Contain between eight and twenty characters.
- Contain at least one upper case letter, lower case letter, and number.
- Not contain a dictionary word of five letters or more.
- Not contain more than four sequential numbers, such as 1234.
- Contain a special character.
- Not contain these special characters: ? < > ( ) ' " ? | &.
Here are some examples of acceptable passwords:
- Hbfc#867 or H@ll0ween (CAP Initials of first and last name- @ - lower case business initials and 3 numbers)
- JA@hc876 (Josh Allen who works at Health Clinic)
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QPP Frequently Asked Questions
of the Month
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Question:
How do we avoid a penalty if we do not use an EHR?
Answer:
To avoid the penalty, you have to earn a MIPS score of at least 15 points. You can meet the minimum threshold by collecting and submitting data in the Quality and Improvement Activities performance categories. Quality measures can be reported via claims or qualified registry and improvement activities via attestation. Small practices should keep in mind that they do not have to meet the data completeness criteria—they can still earn three points per quality measure for submitting data even if they do not report data on 60 percent of their patient population. Additionally, practices can apply for the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Hardship Exception to have the PI category re-weighted to zero. If approved, the 25 percent PI weight will be applied to the quality performance category, making the quality category worth 75 percent of the final MIPS score. Finally, CMS awards five bonus points to the final MIPS score of small practices that submit data in at least one category (must meet data completeness), which could also help small practices reach the 15-point minimum threshold. Don’t have an EHR? Click
here
to see how you can participate in MIPS for the 2018 reporting
year
.
Question:
If we have providers that are exempt from attesting this year, are they still exempt even if we decide to attest as a group instead of as individuals?
Answer:
If you report as a group, you must include the information for all the providers in that group, including those providers who are exempt at the individual level.
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MIPS Top Tip of the Month
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Download HSAG’s QPP Guide by clicking
here
! It's full of resources and will guide you through your MIPS journey in 2018.
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Upcoming Learning Forum Friday Events
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October 12, 2018
1 p.m. ET
QPP Year 3 (2019) Proposed Rule: What You Need to Know
Join HSAG to:
- Identify proposed rule changes in Year 3 (2019) of the QPP.
- Recognize strategies in preparing for Year 3.
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November 9, 2018
1 p.m. ET
Don't Risk Being Unsecured
Join HSAG to:
- Identify the required elements of the Security Risk Analysis (SRA) objective and measure.
- Analyze documentation commonly required to demonstrate compliance in an audit.
- Locate essential tools and resources.
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Here's What Your Peers are Saying About Learning Forum Fridays:
- Having my registration questions answered during the office hours was great.
- The crisp resource links were valuable.
- The explanation of each data submission method was very helpful.
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Upcoming Webinars for Small Practices
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Submitting Your 2018 MIPS Data: Advice for Solo and Small Group Practices
Participants will learn:
- How to submit MIPS data directly to CMS.
- Strategies for choosing which data to submit to help you earn the highest MIPS score.
- What an EIDM account is.
- Practical tips for addressing frequent challenges.
- How to access free technical assistance resources available from CMS or one of its local technical assistance organizations.
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Tuesday, October 16, 2018
3:30–4:30 p.m. ET
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Thursday, October 18, 2018
11 a.m.–Noon ET
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Find All Upcoming and Past CMS Events Related to MACRA, MIPS, APMs, and QPP SURS
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Webinars and Updates
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Save the Date:
Physician Compare National Provider Call
CMS will host an MLN Connects® National Provider Call about Physician Compare on
October 30, 2018
, from
1:30–3:00 p.m. ET
.
Learn more about:
- Physician Compare
- The public reporting of 2017 QPP performance information
- What to expect during the upcoming 30-day preview period.
- How to navigate previewing performance information before publication on the Physician Compare website.
There will be a question and answer session after the presentation, during which attendees will have a chance to ask the Physician Compare team questions about all things Physician Compare.
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Quality and Resource Use Reports (QRURs) and Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Reports No Longer Available After 12/31/18
Access to the QRURs and PQRS Feedback Reports are going away soon—As of
December 31, 2018,
they will no longer be available.
Click
here
to learn how to access reports from 2016 and earlier while you still can.
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2018 Hardship Exception Application Now Available!
The hardship exception applications for the
Promoting Interoperability (PI)
performance category and the
Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances
are now available on the QPP website.
Click
here
to learn more.
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Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Updates
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Catch the Wave: New Medicare Cards Mailed to Wave Six States
CMS started mailing new Medicare cards to people with Medicare who live in Wave six states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. They finished mailing cards to people with Medicare who live in
Waves 1, 2, 3, and 4 states and territories
.
Cards will continue to be mailed for another six months. Remember, under MACRA, CMS is required to remove all social security numbers from all Medicare cards by April 2019.
Click
here
to learn more.
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Quality Initiative Spotlight
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National Health IT Week is Oct 8–12
National Health IT Week (NHIT Week) is a nationwide awareness week focused on catalyzing actionable change within the U.S. health system through the application of information and technology. Click
here
to learn more.
The National Health IT Week Points of Engagement
demonstrate the value of health information and technology through:
- Supporting Healthcare Transformation: The many ways in which health IT is driving transformation in healthcare delivery including improvements in quality and safety, interoperability, advances in innovation, and patient and consumer activation and engagement.
- Expanding Access to High Quality Healthcare: Use of innovative technologies including telehealth and remote patient monitoring to improve healthcare access, coordination and outcomes.
- Increasing Economic Opportunity: Highlighting the importance of a robust, diverse health IT workforce and health IT’s role in supporting economic growth.
- Making Communities Healthier: The fundamental role health IT plays in supporting population and public health.
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October's annual campaign to increase awareness about breast cancer is a great time to broach the subject with your patients. Information and materials to share can be found online at:
MIPS Reporting Tip
The following measures in the Quality category focus on breast cancer.
Quality Measures
- Breast Cancer Screening (Quality ID: 112)
- Preoperative Diagnosis of Breast Cancer (Quality ID: 263)
- Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Invasive Breast Cancer (Quality ID: 264)
Click
here for more Quality measures.
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Influenza Season is Upon Us!
MIPS Reporting Tip
Here are some QPP measures to consider for Influenza.
Quality Measures
- Preventive Care and Screening: Influenza Immunization (Quality ID: 110)
Promoting Interoperability
- Immunization Registry Reporting for Multiple Registry Engagement (PI ID for 2015 CEHRT: PI_PHCDRR_1_MULTI)
- Immunization Registry Reporting (PI ID for 2014 CEHRT: PI_TRANS_PHCDRR_1)
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Make use of these helpful tools as you prepare for MIPS in 2018:
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Subscribe to Get the Information You Need
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Join HSAG's QPP Community Mailing List
Stay informed about all QPP updates, webinars and best practices by joining the HSAG QPP Community Mailing List! Invite your colleagues and other medical staff to join, as well! To join, email
HSAGQPPSupport@hsag.com
. I
n the subject line, enter “Join the HSAG QPP Community Mailing List.” Please include your organization name, your first and last name, email address, city, and state in your email.
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CMS QPP Listserv
Don't forget to sign up on the
CMS.gov QPP website
.
Once you've accessed the QPP page, scroll to
[Subscribe to Updates]
at the bottom of the page and insert your email address before clicking
[Subscribe]
. The QPP listserv is a valuable resource to stay informed of webinars and important QPP deadlines.
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This material was prepared by Health Services Advisory Group, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Florida, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. Publication No. FL-11SOW-D.1-10112018-01
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