CMS issues 2020 Quality Payment Program rule
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its final 2020 rule (PDF) for the fourth year of the Quality Payment Program, which affects physician anesthesiologists and practices that participate in either the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or in Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs).
CMS finalized several provisions for the MIPS 2020 performance period (2022 payment period):
- Out of 100 MIPS points available, 45 percent will be allocated to Quality, 25 percent to Promoting Interoperability, and 15 percent each to Improvement Activities and Cost categories.
- The performance threshold for 2020 is 45 MIPS Total Points - up from 30 MIPS Total Points in 2019. Eligible Clinicians (ECs) or practices that fail to participate when required, or fail to meet the 45-point threshold, may incur up to a negative 9 percent payment adjustment in 2022.
- The MIPS Quality reporting rate threshold will increase from 60 percent of eligible cases per measure to 70 percent of eligible cases.
- CMS approved MIPS #477, Multimodal Pain Management as a MIPS measure in the Anesthesiology Measure Set starting in 2020.
ASA physician leaders and staff continue to review the QPP Final Rule (PDF) and will develop educational and implementation materials for members and their practices in the upcoming weeks. For more information on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), visit ASA's MACRA website. To check on MIPS eligibility, visit the CMS MIPS Participation Lookup Tool.
Quality Reporting Office Hours scheduled Tuesday
Attend AQI's next Office Hours webinar and find out the latest information on data deadlines and an overview of Quality and Regulatory Affairs in 2020. AQI is hosting its regularly scheduled Office Hours at 11 a.m. Central, Tuesday, November 12.
Pre-conference Quality Reporting workshop at Anesthesia Quality Meeting™
Learn more about 2020 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) program requirements and how to use registry data for demonstrating value at AQI's upcoming pre-conference workshop "Quality Reporting and Registries: Building Anesthesiology's Future" before the Anesthesia Quality Meeting. The optional pre-conference meeting is scheduled on Friday, November 15, at ASA headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois. Register today.