The calendar year 2017 was the first official Year 1 for MACRA and MIPS. Requirements were established, results were sent in, scores were calculated, and Year 2 began.
New requirements have come forth for 2018, along with new scores and performance periods, which will also change for 2019. It can be hard to keep up with requirements, but especially how these affect physicians, their potential scores and their payment adjustments.
For MACRA and MIPS Year 2, clinicians will see all four performance categories coming into play, with different category weights than the previous year. Advancing Care Information has also been renamed Promoting Interoperability.
The Whitepaper: Meaningful Use 3, MACRA & MIPS: How Does This Affect Physicians outlines all four categories, their requirements, as well as how scores are calculated. It delves into what measures physicians can focus on, performance periods, Advanced Payment Models, and changes from Year 1.
Perhaps the biggest change coming into play will be starting in 2019. In 2018, Clinicians could attest for the Promoting Interoperability category by using the Transition Measures, which allow the use of a 2014 CEHRT. For Year 3, however, only 2015 CEHRT will be allowed.
Physicians have recently been given their payment adjustments for the year 2017, which required little to no effort to get above the neutral adjustment in comparison to Year 2.
With a score of 3 or higher out of a possible 100 points, physicians received positive payment adjustments. Unfortunately for many clinicians, the payment adjustments they received were well below what they expected, making them feel the work was not worth the effort.
For calendar year 2018, on the other hand, physicians are required to score higher than 30 points to receive a positive payment adjustment.
This requires a significant amount of time, documentation and other resources to ensure they meet the various category marks to receive the proper performance score.
What will this mean for the dedication to meeting MIPS scores for 2018 and especially 2019? Will it continue to be a priority, or will clinicians turn a blind eye?
See what it takes to qualify for Promoting Interoperability in 2018, how scores are calculated and the various performance periods per category.
