Physician practices may begin data collection as late as December 31 and still avoid the negative payment adjustment.
October 2, 2017, marked practices’ deadline to begin collecting data for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) “pick your pace” option two under the merit-based incentive-payment system (MIPS) track of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).
Related: MIPS Takes a Beating at MedPAC
For this transition year of the Quality Payment Program under MIPS, practices can participate in one of three ways:
- Submit data covering a full year
- Submit data covering at least a consecutive 90-day period (avoid negative adjustment and possibly become eligible for a positive payment adjustment)
- Submit a minimum amount of data (<90 days) (doctors may submit just one day of data to avoid a pay cut in 2019 for 2017 performance, but more data boosts odds of bonus)
Therefore, practices can begin data collection as late as December 31, 2017, and still avoid the negative payment adjustment, CMS advised. However, more data increases one’s likelihood of earning a positive payment adjustment.
Physicians must submit their 2017 MIPS performance data from January 2, 2018, to March 31, 2018. CMS will cut Medicare pay 4% in 2019 for doctors who do not submit data during that time.
Debra Shute is the Senior Physicians Editor for HealthLeaders Media.