Under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) rules, data you submit on your 2017 performance will affect your 2019 Medicare payment rates, with either a penalty or a bonus. Fortunately, avoiding the penalty for 2019 is not difficult.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun mailing letters to eligible clinicians to inform them of their eligibility and exemption status for the 2017 Quality Payment Program performance period. Check your mail to find out where you stand. If you choose the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for your MACRA participation (rather than participation in an advanced alternative payment model), you can take advantage of the “pick your pace” approach available for the MIPS 2017 transition year: CMS allows you to avoid the 4-percent Medicare penalty in 2019 by meeting a bare minimum of reporting requirements.
You must complete at least one of the following requirements to avoid the 2019 MIPS penalty. For details, read TMA’s Action article, “How to Submit the Bare Minimum to Avoid 2019 MIPS Penalty.”
You may
choose to submit more data to achieve a higher performance score and possibly a
bonus payment in 2019. Visit the TMA MACRA Resource Center for news and
information to help you meet MACRA requirements, including TMA’s Five-Step Checklist for MACRA Readiness,
links to national specialty societies’ MACRA webpages and relevant CMS pages,
and more.
Or, call on TMA’s practice consultants for a
customized, on-site MACRA
Readiness Assessment of your practice. The assessment will focus on
clinical processes, electronic health record optimization, and workflow
improvement opportunities to help increase your MIPS scoring.
If you have questions about MACRA, call the CMS Quality
Payment Program Service Center at (866) 288-8292 or email at QPP[at]cms[dot]hhs[dot]gov; or call the TMA
Knowledge Center at (800) 880-7955 or email knowledge[at]texmed[dot]org.
Published April 27, 2017
TMA Practice E-Tips main page
Last Updated On
May 02, 2017