CMS News Center

Apply for Clinical Practice Improvement Activities & Measurement Study by Jan. 31

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting a Clinical Practice Improvement Activities Study, as outlined in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 final rule. Clinicians and groups eligible for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System that participate successfully in the study will receive full credit for the Improvement Activities performance category. Applications will be accepted until Jan. 31. Visit the CMS website (www.cms.gov) for more information.

EHR Incentive Programs: New Attestation Resources

The electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs attestation system is open through Feb. 28. Providers must attest by the deadline to avoid a 2018 payment adjustment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released two attestation worksheets for eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals. Visit the 2016 program requirements (www.cms.gov/regulations-and-guidance/legislation/ehrincentiveprograms/2016programrequirements.html) for more information.

CMS Announces Additional Opportunities For Clinicians Under QPP

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced new opportunities for clinicians to join Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) to improve care and earn additional incentive payments under the Quality Payment Program (QPP), which implements the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). Beginning in January and February 2017, CMS will open applications for new rounds of two CMS Innovation Center Models for the 2018 performance year — for new practices and payers in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) Model and new participants in the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model.  With these new opportunities, CMS expects 25% of clinicians in the QPP to be a part of these advanced models and possibly be eligible to earn incentive payments by the 2018 performance period.

“The CMS Innovation Center, which the Affordable Care Act created, takes best practices from physicians and other clinicians and promotes them across the nation,” said Andy Slavitt, CMS acting administrator. “Thanks to the bipartisan MACRA, more clinicians and their patients will benefit from being a part of these models. That’s good for the future of Medicare, the health of beneficiaries, and the satisfaction of clinicians with their work.”

For more information about Next Generation ACO, visit https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/next-generation-aco-model. For more information about CPC+, visit https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/comprehensive-primary-care-plus. For more information about Medicare-Medicaid ACOs, visit https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/medicare-medicaid-aco-model

Report: Repeal of Medicare Payment Advisory Board Requested

A coalition of more than 600 healthcare organizations claim the Affordable Care Act's Independent Payment Advisory Board should be repealed, according to a report by MedPage Today.

The IPAB was designed to be a 15-member independent body that would make recommendations on cuts to the Medicare budget; if Congress didn't agree with the IPAB's recommendations, it would have to devise its own plan to cut the Medicare budget by an equivalent amount. For the full report, visit www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/reform/61892?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-12-07&eun=g631503d0r&pos=23