Since the submission window for PY 2020 closed in March, CMS welcomes a candid conversation about your experience. If you are interested, submit your information via online form on or before May 31, 2021 to set up time to participate and share your experience in the QPP portal! 

Christina Brandon, Research Lead in support of the QPP, is your point of contact. Feel free to reach out to her with any questions: cbrandon@hugeinc.com. 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act suspended the sequestration payment adjustment percentage of 2% applied to all Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) claims from May 1 through December 31, 2020. An Act to Prevent Across-the-Board Direct Spending Cuts, and for Other Purposes, signed into law on April 14, 2021, extends the suspension period to December 31, 2021. You don’t need to take any action. 

New PI Measure―HIE Bi-Directional Exchange

The HIE Bi-Directional Exchange is a new measure added to the PI category for 2021. To meet this measure the MIPS-eligible clinician or group must attest that they engage in bi-directional exchange with an HIE to support transitions of care. To learn more, please review the measure specification. 

To meet this required PI measure, MIPS-eligible clinicians must attest "Yes" to conducting or reviewing a security risk analysis and implementing security updates as necessary and correcting identified security deficiencies in the performance year. To learn more about this measure, please review the measure specification.

Additional free tools and resources available to assist providers include a SRA Tool developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) can be found at the HealthIT.gov Security Risk Assessment Tool webpage.

Each year, HSAG checks in with every eligible clinician and practice to ensure their plans for MIPS reporting are on track. You may receive phone calls, emails, and or fax communication from HSAG throughout the year. HSAG's goal is to ensure you are prepared to submit your best MIPS score. The team of QPP subject matter experts are excited to connect with you and learn more about your MIPS reporting plans this year. If your practice knows your MIPS reporting plans for 2021 now, click here to let HSAG know. By submitting your MIPS participation plans online, HSAG will not reach out via phone, and you can contact HSAG when you need to!  

HSAG is 1 of 11 organizations awarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a 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. HSAG provides assistance on MIPS and Alternative Payment Models (APMs); two reporting paths under the QPP. Its services are provided at no cost to you. 

HSAG created the No-EHR MIPS Action Plan for 2021 to help guide your MIPS reporting by offering a plan for each category that does not require the use of an EHR.

View all QPP/MIPS Tools and Resources at the HSAG website.

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. HSAG has also gathered these resources at the HSAG QPP Service Center's Tools and Resources page.

CAHPS^® = Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems^®

 View all new and updated resources on the CMS QPP Resource Library.

Answer: For the 2021 Performance Year, CMS will continue to use the Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances policy to allow clinicians, groups, and virtual groups to submit an application requesting reweighting of one or more MIPS performance categories due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Answer:  If a clinician (identified by a single unique Tax Identification Number [TIN]/National Provider Identifier [NPI] combination) has more than one MIPS final score, here is how CMS will determine which final score and payment adjustment you will receive:

For more information, please review the 2021 Eligibility and Participation Quick Start Guide.

CMS is hosting a webinar to provide an overview of the quality and cost performance category requirements for the 2021 performance year of the MIPS. MIPS-eligible clinicians, groups, and virtual groups planning to participate in the 4 performance categories of traditional MIPS for the 2021 performance year should plan to attend for information on quality and cost participation. CMS will schedule a second webinar dedicated to the 2021 improvement activities and Promoting Interoperability performance categories.

During the webinar, CMS subject matter experts will provide information on:

Please note: The audio portion of this webinar will be broadcast through the web. You can listen to the presentation through your computer speakers. CMS will open the phone line for the Q&A portion. If you can’t hear audio through your computer speakers, please contact CMSQualityTeam@ketchum.com.

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.

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.