Volume 3 Ed. 3 | March 26, 2020
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2019 MIPS Submission Deadline Extended to April 30, 2020
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is supporting clinicians so the healthcare delivery system can focus on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) response. CMS is implementing additional extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy exceptions and extensions for upcoming quality measure reporting and data submission deadlines for the following CMS programs:
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HSAG Year 4 MIPS Participation Check-in
Each year Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG) checks in with every eligible clinician and practice to ensure plans for MIPS reporting are on track. In March you may have received telephone calls, emails, and/or fax communication from us. HSAG's goal is to ensure you are prepared to submit the best MIPS score, so we appreciate your time speaking with us and look forward to hearing your MIPS reporting plans this year. If your practice knows your MIPS reporting plans for 2020, share those plans
here
with HSAG. By submitting your MIPS participation plans online, HSAG will not reach out via telephone and you can contact us when you need us!
HSAG is 1 of 11 organizations awarded by the CMS as a Quality Payment Program (QPP) Technical Assistance Support Contractor. Since 2017, HSAG has been your trusted resource, available to Medicare providers in Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Also, in partnership with Alliant Quality, HSAG is Florida’s technical assistance contractor for the QPP. We provide assistance on MIPS and Alternative Payment Models (APMs); two reporting paths under the QPP. Our services are provided at no cost to you.
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2020 Facility-Based Status is Now Available
Check your 2020 Facility-Based status with the
Participation Status Tool
. Facility-Based measurement offers clinicians and groups the opportunity to receive scores in the MIPS Quality
and Cost performance categories based on the Hospital
Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program score earned by
their assigned facility.
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35 Days Left Until MIPS Data Submission
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 until
8:00 p.m. EDT on April 30, 2020.
To learn more about how to submit data, please review the resources available in the
QPP Resource Library
.
The data submission period through the CMS Web Interface for ACOs, pre-registered groups, and virtual groups also opened on January 2, 2020, and closes on April 30, 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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MIPS Data Submission Portal Pointers
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Tip #1
New
The Promoting Interoperability (PI) re-weighting for special statuses and approved applications have been updated on the QPP Portal! CMS has updated the PI section of the QPP Portal to indicate if an approved PI hardship exception application or special status automatic re-weighting has been applied to the individual or the group. Watch for a warning box pop up if a submitter attempts to explore the PI page in the QPP Portal. Selecting continue or entering in any data, will override your re-weighting and or hardship exception, and you
will be scored in the PI performance category.
Tip #2
Click the “Print” button at the top of your Reporting Overview,
as there is no "save" or "submit" button once you have entered your MIPS data. Data entered in the submission portal at the close of the submission window on April 30, 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 #3
Submit early; do not wait!
CMS has indicated that the call volume may be higher than normal. If you are locked out of your Health Care Quality Information Systems (HCQIS) Access Roles and Profile (HARP) account and need technical assistance, you may want to call during the hours of 8:00–10:00 a.m. ET
or
2:00–8:00 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 #4
If you are part of an Alternative Payment Model (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 PI category unless otherwise specified by your ACO.
Do you need assistance with MIPS data submission?
Do not wait! Contact HSAG’s QPP Service Center today. We can help.
Phone: 1.844.472.4227 (8 a.m.–7 p.m. ET)
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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.
- 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 Question of the Month
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Question: How do I know if I’m assigned a special status?
Answer:
Special statuses are assigned if you reach the requirements for at least one of the MIPS determination segments. If you have been automatically assigned a special status, it will be added to your eligibility profile in the QPP Participation Status Tool. If you have been assigned a special status in Segment 2 of the MIPS determination period, it may not appear in the QPP Participation Status Tool until late 2020.
Question: How is special status determined?
Answer:
To determine if a MIPS eligible clinician, practice, or virtual group will receive a special status, CMS retrieves and analyzes Medicare Part B claims data.
To learn more about Special Statuses for the QPP, please visit the
2020 Special Statuses
page. If you think you should have a special status or believe there is a mistake in your special status designation, contact the
Quality Payment Program
.
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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.
* CAHPS® = Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems®
CAHPS® is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
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American Medical Association's (AMA)’s Resource for COVID-19 Preparedness
Additional COVID-19 Resources
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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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