Three big CMS moves have affected physician reimbursements in the last 10 years, according to VMG Health’s 2023 mergers and acquisitions report released on March 21: Here are the three CMS policies: In April 2015, the Senate passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, which permanently removed the sustainable growth rate formula under the […]
CMS continues to phase in the Quality Payment Program while MACRA mandates loom. The long-awaited Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule, now pending publication in the Federal Register, finalizes proposed updates to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) and its two tracks — the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternate Payment Models (APMs) — for performance […]
As 2020 winds down, typically everyone from newscasters to sports reporters to anyone with a Twitter handle will write a “Year in Review” article, adding their predictions for the upcoming year. So we thought we would do the same – take a look back and also a look ahead. 2020 has been a fascinating year. […]
Clinicians who served more patients with social risk factors such as low income performed worse in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System’s inaugural payment year, and therefore, received unfavorable value-based reimbursement, according to a new study. The study recently published in Health Affairs found that out of 510,020 clinicians participating in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in […]
86% of medical group practices in an MGMA report said regulatory burden rose in the last year, with prior authorizations and the Quality Payment Program adding to that burden. A vast majority of medical group practices experienced growing regulatory burden in the last year, with prior authorizations and Medicare’s Quality Payment Program topping their list […]
Several changes to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track of the Quality Payment System (QPP) are outlined in a proposed rule for 2020 revisions to payment policies under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). Most of the proposed changes come as no surprise, but there is one proposal, in particular, that will make a huge impact on […]
On Aug. 15, 1935, Will Rogers died in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska. He is an Oklahoma legend and one of the best political satirists and commentators ever. I often wonder what his commentary would be on the state of U.S. politics in 2019. As an aside, Oklahoma City has two airports named […]
CMS recently proposed Merit-Based Incentive Payment System changes in 2020 and beyond, including a new participation framework and higher performance thresholds. CMS is planning to overhaul reporting for the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in order to make the pay-for-performance program less burdensome and more meaningful to providers, according a recently proposed rule. As reported last week, […]
In Part One of this two-part article exploring the implications of MACRA for healthcare providers, healthcare leaders and health IT experts discuss why it’s critical for clinicians to think strategically, rather than tactically, about MACRA compliance. Numerous industry surveys have highlighted that U.S. physicians, by and large, remain unprepared for managing and executing Medicare Access […]
To protect the privacy of Medicare recipients and prevent fraudulent use of Social Security Numbers (SSN), a new, unique 11-character Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) is replacing the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) for Medicare transactions such as billing, eligibility status, and claim submissions. The MBI does not change Medicare benefits. What’s Behind The Change? The […]