The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has opened the data submission period for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)-eligible clinicians who participated in the 2020 performance year of the Quality Payment Program (QPP). Data can be submitted and updated from 10:00 a.m. EST on January 4, 2021 until 8:00 p.m. EDT on March 31, 2021.

Clinicians will need to register in the Health Care Quality Information Systems (HCQIS) Authorization Roles and Profile (HARP) system. For clinicians who need help enrolling with HARP, please refer to the QPP Access User Guide.

Note: Clinicians who are not sure if they are eligible to participate in the QPP can check their final eligibility status using the QPP Participation Status Tool. Clinicians and groups that are opt-in eligible will need to make an election before they can submit data. (No election is required for those who don’t want to participate in MIPS.)

To further support clinicians during the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency (PHE), CMS extended the 2020 MIPS Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception application deadline to February 1, 2021. For the 2020 performance year, MIPS-eligible clinicians, groups, and virtual groups are allowed to submit an application requesting reweighting of one or more MIPS performance categories to 0% due to the current COVID-19 PHE. Please note that any data submitted before or after an application has been approved will be scored.

Eligible clinicians can use the QPP Participation Status Tool to check on their initial 2021 eligibility for MIPS. Enter the eligible clinician National Provider Identifier (NPI) number to determine participation status in MIPS during the 2021 performance year.

Beginning in 2021 the APM (Alternative Payment Model) Performance Pathway (APP) is a new reporting framework, complementary to the MIPS Value Pathways (MVP). The APP is available only to participants in MIPS APMs and can be reported by the individual eligible clinician, group, or APM Entity. 

In August 2020, MIPS-eligible clinicians received a 2019 MIPS Final Score and associated payment adjustment factor(s) as part of their 2019 MIPS performance feedback, available on the QPP website. 

The MIPS-submission window is now open! Have you established a 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. 

To learn more and register for a HARP account, view the QPP Access User Guide (ZIP).  

Tip #1

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. Contact the CMS QPP Service Center at 1.866.288.8292 or QPP@cms.hhs.gov if you need technical assistance with your HARP account.

Tip #3

Do you need assistance with your MIPS data submission?

Tuesday, February 9 at

Thursday, February 11 at

Answer: Even though CMS is extending the Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances exception application deadline into the performance year (PY) 2020 submission period for COVID-19, individuals, groups, and virtual groups cannot submit an application to override PY 2020 data they have already submitted. Any data submitted before or after an application has been approved will be scored.

To prepare for the 2020 MIPS data submission and beginning of the 2021 MIPS performance year, CMS has posted new resources to the QPP Resource Library.

(CAHPS® = Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems®)  

AMA and AHA Recognize Practices for 2020 Blood Pressure Control Success 

In honor of American Heart Month, this is a great time to discuss goal setting to improve blood pressure control in your practice. Under the MIPS Quality performance category, review Quality ID: #236: Controlling High Blood Pressure with your practice and contact the HSAG QPP Assistance line to get assistance on launching a quality improvement initiative to improve your patients' blood pressure.

Nearly 1,100 organizations expressed their commitment to improving blood pressure control rates by submitting data to the 2020 Target: BP Recognition Program. The American Heart Association (AHA) and American Medical Association (AMA) are thrilled to recognize these organizations for their efforts and continued support of improving their community’s heart health. These organizations achieved the “Gold Level Recognition”, achieving blood pressure control rates at or above 70 percent! Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG) congratulates all practices that participated and would like to personally recognize practices in Arizona, California, Florida, and Hawaii. 

Below are a few Quality measures and Improvement Activities that focus on February’s National Health Observances. Use the MIPS Explore Measures and Activities Tool to identify other applicable measures for your patient population.

Would you like to share your feedback on an existing design, new concept, or interactive prototype for the CMS QPP website and potentially earn Improvement Activities credit? For more information and to join the user research program, please visit the QPP HCD page on the CMS QPP website. 

Submit Comments on MIPS Cost Measures Development

CMS and its contractor, Acumen, LLC, are gathering input on episode groups to consider for Wave 4 of the MIPS cost measure development through a Call for Public Comment. Stakeholders are invited to submit their feedback in response to the information and questions included in the document between now and February 5, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Stakeholders may access the public comment materials on CMS's Currently Accepting Comments Page. The following documents are available for stakeholders to download and review:

CMS is accepting recommendations from stakeholders for potential consideration of new specialty measure sets and/or revisions to existing specialty measure sets for the 2022 MIPS program performance year. Recommendations for new specialty sets or revisions to the 2021 specialty sets should be based on the established 2021 MIPS quality measures. Visit the QPP Resource Library to view the 2021 MIPS quality measure specifications. In addition, recommendations will be accepted based on potential new MIPS quality measures that are being considered for implementation in the 2022 performance year. These potential MIPS quality measures can be found on the 2020 Measures Under Consideration (MUC) List.

The current 2021 specialty measure sets are located in the Appendix measure tables of the calendar year (CY) 2021 QPP final rule with comment period located on the QPP Resource Library.

Each recommendation must include the following in order to be considered:

Submissions of recommendations for a new specialty measure set and/or revisions to the current 2021 specialty measure sets should be sent to the PIMMS Quality Measures Support mailbox at PIMMSQualityMeasuresSupport@gdit.com.Submissions will be accepted from stakeholders until close of business on Friday, February 15, 2021.

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.

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.