The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced flexibilities for clinicians participating in the 2020 Quality Payment Program (QPP) Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
CMS is now permitting affected clinicians to submit an Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Application to reweight any MIPS performance categories. Additionally, clinicians may now apply for the MIPS Promoting Interoperability Performance Category Hardship Exception.
Those requesting relief will need to provide CMS with justification for how their practice has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. CMS has provided a flexibilities fact sheet and a link to the QPP Exception Applications webpage for more information pertaining to eligibility and submission guidelines.
Additionally, CMS noted that QPP participants are encouraged to preview their 2018 QPP performance information before it appears on their Physician Compare profile pages and in the Downloadable Database. The preview period will last 60 days and will close on August 20, 2020 at 8:00 pm ET.—Zachary Bessette
