So far over 110 practitioners have expressed interest to join this historic registry to meet criteria of Merit-Based Incentive Payment System to avoid penalties and reap bonuses and also provide an outcome registry to show how interventional pain management is effective.
As we have seen over the past several months, Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) has taken many turns. We have written a comment letter with 4,534 signatures and also went to Washington. We made great strides.
While MIPS requirements have been substantially relaxed in reference to penalties, we need to focus on making bonuses and also putting ourselves into exceptional categories which may yield bonuses of over 20% in the beginning.
To achieve this, the major tool is to publish measures excessively than required and follow through Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) registry.
The advantage of QCDR registry will be not only that we will use many of the existing measures, but also we have to incorporate multiple interventional pain management specific measures to show the outcomes. Thus, this registry will not only meet the criteria for MIPS, but will also provide us with outcome measures across the nation.
Consequently, the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) is developing a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) alongside our technology and analytics partner ArborMetrix. Our goal is for ASIPP to be a QCDR for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for 2017 and beyond, as the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) transitions to MIPS.
Why is ASIPP developing a QCDR?
As ASIPP has communicated over the past several months, the existing measures and reporting options available through CMS are not adequate for our specialty. They do not reflect the procedures and nuances of interventional pain management. The QCDR we are developing will provide ASIPP members the ability to meet CMS quality reporting requirements through MIPS while utilizing measures specific to the specialty.
Why do I need to participate in a QCDR?
Participating in a QCDR is one way to meet requirements mandated to you by CMS under MIPS. In 2017, if you are a solo practitioner, in a group practice, or work as a consultant, and you bill Medicare Part B, you are required to report through MIPS. Doing so will allow you not only to avoid negative payment adjustments but also potentially to receive gains in 2019 for reporting in 2017.
What are the benefits of participating in the ASIPP QCDR?
- You will be able to report on the specialty-specific measures ASIPP is developing. These measures will be more relevant, clinically appropriate, outcomes oriented, and meaningful to interventional pain physicians than general measures defined through MIPS. They will also help drive meaningful quality improvement in the specialty.
- You will meet CMS requirements for reporting in 2017 to avoid penalties of up to 4% of your Medicare reimbursements and the specialty-specific measures will give you a better chance to optimize incentives (even leading to exceptional performer) and avoid penalties under MIPS.
- You will be better prepared for CMS quality reporting in future years when penalties and incentives get even larger. By 2022, the impact on your CMS payments will range from a penalty of 9% to incentives of upwards of 9% (may be as high as 21 - 30%), depending on your reporting performance.
How do I enroll in the ASIPP QCDR?
The first step is to let us know you are interested by replying to this email. Once we have garnered enough interest, we will be in contact with details of the enrollment process. Participating in the ASIPP QCDR will be $500 per year for physician for ASIPP members, $750 for non-members. For physician assistants and nurse practitioners the cost is 20% less (i.e., $400 for members or $600 for non-members).
What is the timeline for participation?
ASIPP must enroll at least 200 physicians in our QCDR by November 30, 2016 to meet this initial milestone.
Where can I find additional information about QCDR participation?
The CMS website has information on QCDR. We will be making more ASIPP-specific information available soon.