MACRA

AAFP: Drop MIPS APM Pathway to Simplify MACRA Implementation

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recently urged CMS to simplify MACRA implementation to support primary care provider participation in the Quality Payment Program. The industry group...

MIPS Requirements for Clinicians in Small, Rural Hospitals

by Jacqueline LaPointe

In light of the unique challenges eligible clinicians in small and rural hospitals face, CMS developed special Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligibility and reporting requirements for the...

CMS Expects to Release MIPS Participation Status By May 2017

by Jacqueline LaPointe

CMS anticipates notifying eligible clinicians about their Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) participation status for 2017 via letter between late April through May, a recent email from the...

2 APMs Take Next Step As MACRA Physician-Focused Payment Models

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Two proposed physician-focused payment models will go to the HHS Secretary for possible limited-scale testing, while one model was stopped from becoming a potential alternative payment model under...

Oncologists Need Data Reporting, Time for MACRA Implementation

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Although MACRA launched the Quality Payment Program on Jan. 1, 2017, a recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) report stated that many oncology practices still need to expand or improve...

MIPS Reporting Success Depends on Choosing Suitable Measures

by Jacqueline LaPointe

For Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting success, eligible clinicians should report on quality measures that they know their practice already performs well on, advised Michael Abrams,...

64% of Healthcare Providers Not Ready for MACRA Implementation

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Even though MACRA’s Quality Payment Program started on Jan. 1, approximately 64 percent of healthcare providers stated that they were either unprepared or very unprepared for MACRA implementation...

CMS Delays Rollout of Cardiac, Ortho Bundled Payment Programs

by Jennifer Bresnick

CMS is pushing back the start date for a number of its bundled payment programs in an effort to provide additional time to review and prepare for the initiatives. In a notice posted in the Federal...

MGMA to CMS: Notify Clinicians About MIPS Eligibility ASAP

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) recently called on CMS Administrator Seema Verma to immediately release Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligibility notifications as well as...

274 Orgs Calls on CMS to Add Medicare Advantage Advanced APMs

by Jacqueline LaPointe

CMS should develop financial incentives comparable to those in the Quality Payment Program’s Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) track for providers who assume financial risk under Medicare...

CMS Reopens Next Generation ACO Application Request Portal

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Providers interested in joining the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model in 2018 can now access the Request for Applications and Letter of Intent on the program’s portal,...

Understanding the Quality Payment Program’s Advanced APM Track

by Jacqueline LaPointe

From bundled payments to accountable care organizations, alternative payment models (APMs) are not new to healthcare providers. But the final MACRA implementation rule created a new subset of Advanced APMs, which could bring providers more...

AHA Critiques MedPAC’s Potential MACRA Implementation Changes

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The American Hospital Association (AHA) recently responded to potential MACRA implementation changes discussed at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) January meeting. The industry...

Exploring MIPS Advancing Care Info, Improvement Activities

by Jacqueline LaPointe

At HIMSS17, CMS leaders took the stage to ease provider concerns about the newly launched Quality Payment Program and its more popular value-based reimbursement track, the Merit-Based Incentive Payment...

Understanding 2017 MIPS Quality, Cost Performance Categories

by Jacqueline LaPointe

CMS leaders at HIMSS17 were not shy with telling session attendees that they are currently in the first Quality Payment Program performance year. To help providers better understand the program, which...

CMS Awards $100M for Small, Rural Clinician MACRA Help

by Jacqueline LaPointe

ORLANDO - CMS recently selected 11 healthcare organizations to receive a total of $100 million in funding to help small and rural eligible clinicians participate in the newly-launched MACRA. Each...

MGMA to Price: Simplify MACRA, Reassess Alternative Payment Models

by Thomas Beaton

MGMA would like HHS Secretary Tom Price to reduce the regulatory burdens of HIPAA and MACRA, reassess the development of Alternative Payment Models (APMs), and postpone implementation of the...

One-Third of Healthcare Execs Ready for MACRA Implementation

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Only 35 percent of healthcare executives said that their organization has a MACRA implementation strategy and feels prepared for the new value-based reimbursement program, according to a recent Health...

Stakeholders Propose 4 MACRA Physician-Focused Payment Models

by Jacqueline LaPointe

MACRA’s Quality Payment Program offers 5 percent maximum incentive payments if eligible clinicians sufficiently participate in an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) from 2017 to 2022. But...

MACRA Implementation, Healthcare Consumerism Trends at HIMSS17

by Jacqueline LaPointe

As healthcare stakeholders are packing their bags for the upcoming HIMSS17 conference in sunny Florida, many are expecting to learn about the hottest healthcare revenue cycle management topics from the...