Under MACRA’S Quality Payment Program (QPP), MIPS 2020 is well underway for clinicians to participate in. Another year of performance, outcomes, and incentives is here, not only for them but for us too because we, as their business associates, are in this together.
This page is created in view of the information released by CMS. Anything you find on this page is in accordance with the MIPS 2020 final rule; we want it to be a guide for clinicians to make informed decisions in the future. Eventually, it materializes our devotion, dedication, and commitment to healthcare purpose.
MIPS 2020 Quality Reporting
Since we are talking about MIPS CQMs (Clinical Quality Measures), previously registry measures, a MIPS Qualified Registry is an answer to your MIPS-MACRA objectives. In the end, it is a combined effort of both the registry and the provider that converts into the final MIPS score. The incentives, bonuses are the reward for MIPS quality reporting.
Thorough submission is key here. Due to a consistent knowledge base, our consultants are aware of all the ins and outs of how to submit MIPS 2020 data.
Performance Period
2020
Performance Year
Clinicians care for patients and record data during the year
Closes December 31, 2020
Performance period opens January 1, 2020
Submit
Mar 31,2021*
Data Submission
Deadline for submitting data is March 31, 2021
Clinicians are encouraged to submit data early via p3care
*Data differs for CMS web interface and claims-based data submission
Feedback Available
July 2021
Feedback
CMS provides performance feedback after the data is submitted
Clinicians will receive feedback before the start of the payment year
Adjustment
Jan 1,2020
Payment Adjustment
MIPS payment adjustments are prospectively applied to each claim beginning January 1, 2022
MIPS 2020 Data Submission Methods
The 2020 Category Weight Distribution
The announced weights – same as the previous year – for each performance category are:
- 45% for Quality
- 15% for Cost
- 25% for Promoting Interoperability (PI)
- 15% for Improvement Activities (IA)
MIPS 2020 Category Weights
Each of the MACRA-MIPS categories has measures that fulfill a specific purpose. With more than 200 MIPS Quality measures, each with the sole purpose of gauging your performance on clinical activities and patient outcomes, their accurate submission helps you achieve a higher MIPS final score.
Similarly, Improvement Activities category monitors your performance, as a clinician, in terms of patient engagement, care coordination, and patient safety. In total, there are over 200 Improvement Activities to choose from; select ones that best suit your practice or specialty.
The third category, Promoting Interoperability, previously known as Meaningful Use caters to the 2015 version of Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) to gauge the performance of clinicians. It does so through a wide range of measures. Our job is to help clinicians select, understand, and submit 2020 MIPS promoting interoperability measures for positive payment adjustments.
Finally, we have the Cost category that addresses the quality of claims filed against services rendered. It analyses a clinician’s performance in providing the needed care to patients, keeping the overall expenses to a minimum.
How Do I Know If I Am Eligible for MIPS 2020?
For clinicians who are interested but do not know whether they are eligible or not, we bring the right data for them into the limelight. There are zero changes to this section of the program from before in 2019.
Fall in one of the eligible clinician types on Medicare Part B claims
Be above the low-volume threshold
Be enrolled in Medicare before 2020
Not be a Qualifying Alternative Payment Model Participant (QP)
If you choose to report as a group and not as an individual clinician, the final score and payment adjustment are based on collective reporting.
The Types of Clinicians Who Are Eligible
Physician
Physician Assistant
Nurse Practitioner (NP)
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
Physical Therapist (PT)
Occupational Therapist (OT)
Speech-language Pathologist
Audiologist
Clinical Psychologist
Registered Dietitian or Nutrition Professionals
Straight Up 2020 MIPS Eligibility Requirements
To be reporting MIPS 2020, clinicians must fall on the following requirements:
- Bill Medicare an amount of $90,000 or more
- Provide care to 200 or more Medicare patients
- Provide 200 or more cover professional services to Medicare patients
If you don’t meet one of the above requirements, consider yourself excluded from MIPS in 2020.
Opt-in Clinicians
The option to report MIPS through the Opt-in doorway does not require you to regularly participate and report. You may elect to opt-in to MIPS even if you don’t meet the requirements except one of them.
How to Report MIPS Data?
P3 Healthcare Solutions simplifies MIPS data submission from the get-go. In fact, we submit data on your behalf, so you get to focus more on your patients – no more looking after compliance obligations on your own. The process executes in a step-by-step fashion, beginning from step 1 and ending on step 5.
Step 1
One of our health IT analysts spends a few minutes with you on the phone to understand your clinical workflow and practice requirements.
Step 2
Next is shortlisting of measures for each performance category and communicating the reporting activity with the practice manager.
Step 3
The cost category is auto-responsive because we take care of it for you – dealing with episode-based measures and claims filed with CMS.
Step 4
Self-educating and adding to client’s knowledge through feedback based on TIN level QRUR reports.
Step 5
In case of any MIPS reporting 2020 updates, we inform you of the regulatory changes and CMS MIPS submission criteria.
What is MIPS?
MIPS – the Merit-based Incentive Payment System – is a government program that judges the quality of care by care professionals. There are many ways in which an eligible clinician can submit measures through MIPS. However, submission of MIPS CQMs (clinical quality measures) previously referred to as “Registry measures” through a third-party intermediary, is an effective way of reporting. In this, clinicians can score high and handsome based on the accuracy of data. Contact us to report to CMS.
Why should I choose MIPS Quality measures?
QPP divides into two programs, of which MIPS is the popular version by far. Specialties can connect with MIPS consulting services such as ours to select the most suitable CMS MIPS Quality measures to their practice and submit them. In fact, CMS resource library has all the measures in detail you need as a provider. As for their purpose, it is to improve quality of care and reduce healthcare expenses.
MIPS Quality measures 2020 refer to measures across the Quality performance category. Ordinarily, ECs have four performance categories including Quality, Promoting Interoperability (PI), Improvement Activities (IA), and Cost to report. Moreover, accurate and meticulous MIPS submission depict high scores, incentives, and bonuses.
What is data completeness? Data completeness factor holds crucial place in Quality reporting. Clinicians with MIPS eligibility have to submit measures with 70% data completeness, which means they have to report performance or exception data for at least 70% of patients that are eligible for the particular measure’s denominator
The Curiosity that Lies with the MIPS 2020 Quality Measures
MIPS 2020 Quality measures reflect the Quality category in the complete sense. Once you get to know them, reporting for the performance year only gets easier.
CMS MIPS 2020 is another year of transition out of the 5. We are transitioning to MIPS in a gradual process year after year with this transition phase ending in 2021. It will be the year 2021 that this program will have finalized requirements set for the Quality performance category.
The category holds a 45% weight of the total score, similar to what it did in 2019. ECs must collect data for 12 months for Quality – starting from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2020.
For the 2020 Quality measures list, CMS’ official website contains the most accurate data for clinicians to read and understand; furthermore, the Quality measure specifications for 2020 are part of the MIPS section at qpp.mips.gov. The Quality measures, program specifications, hardship exception rules for MIPS 2020 are all there alongside data about Alternative Payment Models.
MIPS Submission Deadline 2020
As the deadline for MIPS 2019 was extended from March 31 to April 30, 2020, 8 pm EDT due to the pandemic, we may expect submissions on a large scale once COVID-19 subsides. More doctors and healthcare professionals are expected to participate in it.
MIPS 2020 is currently underway; to make the most of it, we suggest you report MIPS before the year ends. As the deadline gets nearer, haste could get in the way of selection and submission of the right measures. Therefore, reporting them as early as possible is indeed fruitful for your practice in the long run.
MIPS 2020 deadline is most probably going to be March 31, 2021, 8 p.m. EDT by which ECs must report MIPS 2020 measures completely.
MIPS 2020 Reporting Health IT Specialists
Not to brag about it but we are recognized as a MIPS Qualified Registry for the fourth time in 2020. From the years 2017 to 2020, it is no less than an achievement to report MIPS for healthcare providers across the states. We continue to do so year after year keeping the accuracy, integrity, and security of data entrusted to us intact. Our number and email for MIPS 2020 submissions are open 5 days a week.
How Does P3 Help?
We only require 5 minutes of your time in which our analysts examine your case in light of your area of expertise. Reporting begins once the measures are finalized through mutual understanding. Besides the meticulous approach and attention to detail, we hold transparency as the distinguishing factor in our submissions. Give us a call or simply email your NPIs, contact person’s name, and practice’s name to get started.
What is a good MIPS score?
MIPS 2020 performance criteria include a score above 85 for bonuses from the $500 million pool. In 2019, they were allowed on a score of 75 and above, so that’s changed in 2020. This 10-number increase is proof of the government’s continued commitment to quality care.