MIPS Value Pathways Registration Now Open
By Emma Freer

Physicians in search of an alternative to Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) may be in luck. 

The registration window for MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs) – a new, optional reporting framework that ties measures and activities to a specific specialty or condition – is now open through Nov. 30.  

There are 12 MVPs available in the 2023 performance year, targeting 14 specialties. They include: 

  • Adopting Best Practices and Promoting Patient Safety within Emergency Medicine; 
  • Advancing Cancer Care; 
  • Advancing Care for Heart Disease; 
  • Advancing Rheumatology Patient Care; 
  • Coordinating Stroke Care to Promote Prevention and Cultivate Positive Outcomes; 
  • Improving Care for Lower Extremity Joint Repair; 
  • Optimal Care for Kidney Health; 
  • Optimal Care for Patients with Episodic Neurological Conditions; 
  • Optimizing Chronic Disease Management; 
  • Patient Safety and Support of Positive Experiences with Anesthesia; 
  • Promoting Wellness; and 
  • Supportive Care for Neurodegenerative Conditions.  

Unlike with other MIPS reporting options, eligible clinicians who wish to participate in MVPs must register in advance by emailing an MVP registration form to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) with the subject “MVP Registration.” CMS has developed an MVP Registration Fact Sheet with detailed steps on how to complete the form and answers to frequently asked questions.  

To complete an MVP registration form, clinicians must identify: 

  • An individual at their organization with a Quality Payment Program Security Official Role; 
  • The MVP they plan to report; 
  • Any administrative claims they plan to count toward the four required quality measures, if applicable; 
  • Whether they plan to count the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) for MIPS Survey toward the four required quality measures, if applicable; 
  • The population health measure they would like to be evaluated on; and 
  • The participation option – group, subgroup, individual, or alternative payment model (APM) entity – they plan to use.  

Clinicians who choose to report the CAHPS for MIPS Survey must complete a separate registration, in addition to their MVP registration, by June 30.  

Although MVPs will be optional in the 2023 performance year, CMS “plans to sunset traditional MIPS in the future, at which point MVPs will become mandatory,” unless the clinician is eligible to participate in an APM pathway, according to the agency’s website.  

The Texas Medical Association continues to advocate for voluntary participation. In the runup to MVPs’ debut, TMA asked CMS to reconsider the reporting option – calling it yet another change to the “overly complicated” MIPS program – and its plan to make it mandatory.  

“Rather than force physicians into MVPs, TMA again calls on CMS to focus on moving physicians to risk-based systems in voluntary, physician-led advanced [APMs],” the association wrote.  

Last Updated On

April 25, 2023

Originally Published On

April 25, 2023

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Emma Freer

Associate Editor

(512) 370-1383
 

Emma Freer is a reporter for Texas Medicine. She previously worked in local news, covering city politics, economic development, and public health. A native Clevelander, she graduated from Columbia Journalism School and the University of St. Andrews.

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