CMS publishes MACRA measure selection tool for physicians November 7, 2016 Medicare MACRA, Quality Reporting 0 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a tool that will let physicians review and select the MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015) quality measures that best fit their practice. Under MACRA, CMS will begin measuring performance for eligible clinicians in 2017 through the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), with payment adjustments based on those results beginning in 2019. The MIPS payment adjustments will be based on performance in four categories: quality, resource use, clinical practice improvement activities and electronic health record (EHR) use. The old EHR meaningful use program is now called “advancing care information.” CMS recently announced that Medicare will not impose penalties for the 2017 performance reporting period for physicians who report for one patient on one quality measure, one improvement activity or the four required EHR advancing care information measures. Physicians who choose not to report any performance data will be subject to a 4 percent penalty. Physicians can choose to only report for 90 days in 2017 and receive a small bonus. Physicians who report for the full year in 2017 may be eligible for a larger bonus. The CMS tool has a search and filter option that will help physicians find measures that meet practice or specialty needs. Physicians can view up to six quality measures side-by-side, including one outcome measure. This tool allows physicians to find out if there is an outcome measure tailored for their specialty or practice. Providers can then download a CSV file of the measures that have been selected. The tool is available on the CMS Quality Payment Program website at https://qpp.cms.gov/measures/quality. For more information on MACRA, see the California Medical Association's MACRA resource center at www.cmanet.org/macra. It provides a link to a similar tool developed by the American Medical Association. Comments are closed.
