Physician & Practice Timeline®

On June 17th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that payments under the Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) Program for the Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) will conclude on July 12, 2024. After July 12, 2024, CMS will no longer accept new applications for CHOPD accelerated or advance payments. To learn more about CHOPD, please visit the FAQ page. Any clinicians or suppliers that are having difficulty billing or receiving payment should contact Change Healthcare, owned by UnitedHealth Group, by visiting https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/ns/changehealthcare.html and/or their Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) and all submissions should be in by July 12, 2024.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a demonstration webinar on Thursday, June 20, 2024, from 1 – 3 p.m. ET to provide information on the Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) and Qualified Registry Self-Nomination processes for the 2025 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance period. This demonstration will provide a walk-through of the QCDR and Qualified Registry Self-Nomination forms available on the Quality Payment Program (QPP) website as well as the QCDR Measure Submission Form for those submitting QCDR measures.

2025 Self-Nomination and QCDR Measure Submission Form Demonstration
Thursday, June 20, 2024 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET (10:00–12:00 p.m. PT)
CMS will answer questions from attendees at the end of the webinar as time permits. Attendees can also ask questions during a virtual “office hours” session for the Self-Nomination application process, which will be held on August 22, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET. Registration information for this session will be distributed via the QPP listserv at a later date.

If you have any webinar registration questions, please contact CMSQualityTeam@ketchum.com.

Register Today

Promoting Interoperability is an aspect of traditional MIPS, making up 25% of the final score. Beginning with the 2024 performance period, you must submit collected data for the required measures in each objective (unless an applicable exclusion is claimed) for the same 180 continuous days (or more) during the calendar year. For more information on 2024 changes to reporting requirements and details about measures please visit the QPP website.

Improvement activities are a part of the requirements for traditional MIPS and make up 15% of final score. Improvement activities have a minimum of a continuous 90-day performance period (during calendar year (CY) 2024) unless otherwise stated in the activity description. Each activity must be performed in CY 2024, but multiple activities don’t have to be performed during the same 90-day, or otherwise specified, period. For more information about improvement activities and data submission please visit the measurements and activities page and the improvement activities page.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently revised its Hospital Interpretive Guidance to clarify the need to obtain informed consent before medical students or other students perform important surgical tasks or invasive procedures examinations. On Thursday, May 2, experts from both CMS and the Office for the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) are hosting an information session about how to obtain informed consent for sensitive exams in accordance with the guidance. Register here for the webinar.

The Final Score Preview period for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is now open until the final performance feedback, including payment adjustments, is released in August 2023. The Final Score Preview Period provides clinicians with the opportunity to preview their final score prior to the release of payment adjustment information. The final score will determine your 2024 MIPS payment adjustment. To preview your 2022 MIPS final scores, sign up on the QPP webpage.

CMS has published 2023 Alternative Payment Model (APM) Incentive Payment details on the QPP page. Eligible clinicians who were Qualifying APM Participants (QPs) based on their 2021 performance should have begun receiving their 2023 5% APM Incentive Payments earlier this summer. Visit the 2023 Learning Resources for QP Status and APM Incentive Payment (ZIP) to learn more. Verify your Medicare billing information by September 1, 2023, for CMS to issue your APM Incentive Payment. For questions, email QualityPaymentProgramAPMHelpdesk@cms.hhs.gov or call 1-866-288-8292.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has contracted with Mathematica to conduct a national study to collect representative data on physician practice expenses and hours spent in direct patient care. The Physician Practice Information (PPI) Survey has been endorsed by ACP, along with 170 medical societies and associations, and member participation is encouraged. Physician input is needed by June 30, 2024 to gather accurate data on practice costs and the hours of patient care that physicians provide. The survey should be completed by the person at the clinician practice who can best answer questions about finances and expenses.