On July 12th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes to its Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program (QPP). CMS is seeking comment on various QPP provisions in the NPRM. Comments are due by 5:00 pm ET on September 10.
You must officially submit your comments in one of the following ways:
- Electronically, through Regulations.gov
- Regular mail
- Express or overnight mail
- By hand or courier
More Information on the QPP Year 3 Notice of NPRM Draft Provisions
For Calendar Year 2019 (Year 3), proposed changes for QPP include:
- Expanding the definition of Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians to include new clinician types (physical therapists, occupational therapists, clinical social workers, and clinical psychologists).
- Modifying the MIPS Promoting Interoperability (formerly Advancing Care Information) performance category to support greater electronic health record (EHR) interoperability and patient access while aligning with the proposed new Promoting Interoperability Program requirements for hospitals.
- Continuing the small practice bonus, but including it in the Quality performance category score of clinicians in small practices instead of as a standalone bonus.
- Updating the MIPS APM measure sets that apply for purposes of the APM scoring standard.
- Increasing flexibility for the All-Payer Combination Option and Other Payer Advanced APMs for non-Medicare payers to participate in the Quality Payment Program.
For More Information
To learn more, view the QPP Year 3 NPRM fact sheet and NPRM press release.
The Quality Payment Program may be reached at 1-866-288-8292 (TTY 1-877-715- 6222), Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-8:00 PM ET or via email at QPP@cms.hhs.gov.
