If your practice is reporting quality measures using a specialty specific registry, you are not alone. Here are some factors to consider as we roll into the 2019 reporting year and beyond.
Each year of the MIPS program, it becomes more important to earn a higher CPS score in order to keep pace with the increased payment adjustment amounts. MIPS performance in 2019 could yield a 2021 total payment adjustment of close to 5% with a perfect MIPS score. In 2020, the stakes increase again.
A solid CPS score requires a provider to deliver high quality care but also develop and deploy a high-quality reporting strategy. A quality reporting strategy can be thought of in three steps:
- Understand what is required
- Leverage the uniqueness of your practice
- Develop a submission strategy to maximize your potential points
Practices reporting MIPS through their related specialty registries face several hurdles when it comes to MIPS reporting. Specialty societies are focused solely on the specialty they support. They often do not offer the full spectrum of measures that are available through non-specialty specific registries. Because of that, the maximum number of points available to you may be lower when reporting through a Specialty society, than through a registry.
These, among several other factors, create additional hurdles making success under the MIPS program more complicated than it already is and limits the possible success many practices would normally see when reporting through a registry.
Consideration of the 3 main strategic decisions to optimize for points for MIPS quality make it clear that a registry, offering all measures, offers the most most potential for point optimization using different benchmarks. A high-quality registry partner, like ReportingMD, can help facilitate reporting in both channels, satisfying Specialty society goals, and maximizing reimbursement.
Step 1 – Choose measures from the largest selection possible – High-quality registry partners, especially those with ONC certified EHR Technologies, like ReportingMD, offer the most measures from which to choose. Some specialty registries only offer the minimum 6 measures, limiting your ability to report on performance in other areas. There are currently 197 measures that are worth more than just the minimum 3 points – are you certain you have the best available for your practice?
Step 2 – Choose between Registry or EHR benchmarks – the registry with the ONC CEHRT also offers the ability to have measures compared against registry or EHR benchmarks, which increases the practice’s chance of scoring higher depending on which benchmark is selected.
Step 3 – Calculate your performance impact relative to people making similar selections – the fact that registries, especially those with ONC CEHRT, have so many measures to choose from, they allow the many providers who report on those measures to spread their performance out among the various measures instead of all crowding into just a few measures.
If your specialty society offers one or two measures that you are interested in reporting to CMS for MIPS credit, you can now combine those measures submitted through the specialty registry pathway with measures offered by a registry partner. CMS will calculate the performance and scoring from all submission methods giving your practice the best of both worlds and the most potential for success under the program’s quality category.
The criteria which determine MIPS eligibility are multi-faceted and complex. ReportingMD understands these criteria’s and works with client organizations to optimize incentive performance in the MIPS (and other value-based care programs.)
With the proven experience of our client services team and Total Outcomes Management (TOM™) a powerful measure calculation engine, ReportingMD can help you navigate the complexities of the pay-for-performance landscape.
We were invited by CMS to help develop the MIPS program, which provides our team with unique expertise and a depth of experience that’s unmatched.
Using TOM™, practices can gain operational visibility to the quality performance of their physicians and avoid CMS penalties for non-compliance. TOM™ aggregates data from multiple sources to identify and manage patient care gaps.
The experience of our client services team helps guide measure selection and a reporting framework designed for success. At ReportingMD, we help our clients earn the highest possible performance reimbursement possible.
Learn why mid to large sized healthcare organizations turn to ReportingMD for powerful tools that help improve patient care, improve quality outcomes, and maximize reimbursements.
About the MIPS Program
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) is aimed at strengthening Medicare access, improving physician payments, and encouraging better patient care. Among other improvements. Under MACRA, CMS is required to implement a Quality Payment Program (QPP), which offers clinicians and practices two separate tracks: (1) the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (aka MIPS) track; and, (2) the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (Advanced APM) track.