Volume 3 Ed. 1 | January 23, 2020
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Recheck Your Final 2019 MIPS Eligibility Status
After releasing final 2019 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)-eligibility data, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) discovered and corrected inconsistencies in the data.
If you checked your eligibility following the December 4th listserv announcing final MIPS eligibility, your status may have been affected by the data inconsistencies
. We encourage you to use the
Quality Payment Program (QPP) Participation Status Tool
to re-check and confirm your final 2019 MIPS eligibility.
If you have not checked your final 2019 MIPS eligibility yet
, you should do so now to understand your participation requirements for the 2019 performance period. The 2019 MIPS data submission period opens January 2, 2020 at 10 a.m. EST.
For More Information
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The MIPS 2019 Data Submission Period Is Now Open
69 days until the MIPS Submission Deadline!
Are you ready?
CMS has opened the data submission period for MIPS-eligible clinicians who participated in the 2019 performance period of the QPP. Data can be submitted and updated from
10:00 a.m. EST on January 2, 2020
until
8:00 p.m. EDT on March 31, 2020.
To learn more about how to submit data, please review the resources available in the
QPP Resource Library
.
Please note, the data submission period through the CMS Web Interface for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), pre-registered groups, and virtual groups also opens on January 2, 2020 and closes on March 31, 2020. Quality measures reported via Medicare Part B claims have been submitted throughout the 2019 performance period. Sign in to qpp.cms.gov for your preliminary feedback on Part B claims measure data processed to date.
For More Information
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Check Initial 2020 MIPS Eligibility
Low-Volume Threshold Requirements
To be eligible to participate in MIPS in 2020, you must:
- Bill more than $90,000 a year in allowed charges for covered professional services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), AND
- Furnish covered professional services to more than 200 Medicare Part B beneficiaries, AND
- Provide more than 200 covered professional services under the PFS.
Find Out Today
Find out
whether you are eligible for MIPS today. Prepare now to earn a positive payment adjustment in 2022 for your 2020 performance.
Note:
The 2020 Eligibility Tool Update for Qualifying Alternative Payment Model (APM) participants (QPs)/APMs will be updated at a later time. Additionally, the tool will be updated in late 2020 to indicate final MIPS eligibility.
For More Information
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The MIPS-submission window is now open! Have you established a Health Care Quality Information Systems (HCQIS) Access Roles and Profile (HARP) account and identified roles needed for submission? Check out some HARP Frequently Asked Questions at the
CMS HARP Help website
. If you have a HARP account, the following are some tips to keep your account active and how to create a strong password.
Passwords must:
- Be changed every 60 days.
- Be changed prior to expiration.
- Be 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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2019 Qualifying APM Participants Notice for APM
Incentive Payment
In October 2019, CMS announced disbursement of the 5% APM Incentive Payments to eligible clinicians who were Qualifying APM Participants (QPs) based on their 2017 performance. When CMS prepared to disburse payments for the 2019 5% APM Incentive Payment, they were unable to verify banking information for the QPs listed in the notice. CMS needs your assistance in verifying banking information. If you have not yet received your APM Incentive Payment, you can check the notice at the
CMS 2019 Qualifying APM Participants Notice
(PDF). The deadline to provide the updated banking information is
February 28, 2020
.
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Submission Portal Pointers
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Tip #1
Click the “Print” button at the top of your Reporting Overview, as there is no "Save" or "Submit" button, once you have entered your data. Data entered in the submission portal at the close of the submission window on March 31, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. ET is what CMS will use to calculate your score. Be sure to safeguard your tax identification numbers (TINs) in your prints.
Tip #2
Submit early. Do not wait!
CMS has indicated that the call volume may be higher than normal. If you are locked out of your HARP account and need technical assistance, you may want to call during the hours of 8–10 a.m. ET or 2–8 p.m. ET, which are off-peak hours indicated by the CMS QPP Service Center.
If you have already submitted your data, log back in to check for any score adjustments that may have been made based on previously unprocessed claims or any third-party vendors that may have submitted data on your behalf.
Tip #3
If you are part of an APM, such as an ACO, please confirm with your ACO that they have uploaded the Quality MIPS data on your behalf. Do not forget you are required to submit your own data in the Promoting Interoperability category unless otherwise specified by your ACO.
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Do you need assistance with your MIPS data submission?
Do not wait! Contact HSAG’s QPP Service Center today. We can help.
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New QPP Tools and Resources
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To help you prepare for the 2020 performance year of the MIPS, CMS has posted new resources to the
QPP Resource Library
.
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QPP Frequently Asked Question of the Month
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Question: How do I sign in to the QPP Data Submission System?
Answer:
To sign in and submit data on the
QPP Portal
, clinicians will need to register in the HCQIS HARP system. For clinicians who need help enrolling with HARP, please refer to the
QPP Access User Guide
(ZIP).
Question: Are there any new Quality specialty measure sets for 2020?
Answer:
Yes! CMS has added specialty measure sets for endocrinology, pulmonology, chiropractic medicine, audiology, speech language pathology, and nutrition/dietician. CMS has also added a specialty measure set for clinical social work (CSW). However, CSWs are not a 2020 eligible-clinician type. Additionally, the physical therapy/occupational therapy specialty measure set had added 10 measures for 2020. Contact HSAG's QPP Service Center today. We can assist you with locating the specialty measure sets.
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Updates
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QPP—MIPS Question & Answer Town Hall Event for Solo and Small Group Practices
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Thursday, January 23, 2020
3:30–4:30 p.m. ET
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Tuesday, January 28, 2020
11:00 a.m.–12 noon p.m. ET
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2019 MIPS Data Submission; Advice for Solo and Small Group Practices
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Tuesday, February 18, 2020
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET
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Thursday, February 20, 2020
3:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. ET
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Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Updates
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2020 Eligible-Clinician Electronic Clinical Quality Measure Flows
CMS published the 2020 performance period electronic Clinical Quality Measure
(eCQM) flows
for eligible clinicians and eligible professionals, which provide:
- An additional resource to help you interpret the logic and calculation methodology for performance rates when implementing eCQMs.
- An overview of each population criteria components and associated data elements that lead to inclusion or exclusion into the eCQM’s quality action (numerator).
eCQM flows supplement eCQM specifications for the following programs; do not use them in place of the eCQM specification or for reporting purposes:
- QPP: The MIPS and Advanced APMs
- Advanced APM: Comprehensive Primary Care Plus
- Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program for Eligible Professionals
For More Information:
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Subscribe to Get the Information You Need
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Subscribe to HSAG's QPP Quest Digest
Invite your practice staff, practices you refer patients to, and other colleagues to subscribe to HSAG’s QPP Quest Digest!
Stay informed of all monthly QPP updates, deadlines, no-cost webinars and best practices by subscribing
here
.
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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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