CMS Proposes Physician Payment Rule to Improve Health Equity, Patient Access – Advancing the Quality Payment Program

CMS is proposing to require clinicians to meet a higher performance threshold to be eligible for incentives. This new threshold aligns with the requirements established for the QPP’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.

To ensure more meaningful participation for clinicians and improved outcomes for patients, CMS is moving forward with the next evolution of QPP and proposing its first seven MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs)  ̶  subsets of connected and complementary measures and activities, established through rulemaking, used to meet MIPS reporting requirements. The initial set of proposed MVP clinical areas include: rheumatology, stroke care and prevention, heart disease, chronic disease management, lower extremity joint repair (e.g., knee replacement), emergency medicine, and anesthesia. MVPs will more effectively measure and compare performance across clinician types and provide clinicians more meaningful feedback. CMS is also proposing to revise the current eligible clinician definition to include clinical social workers and certified nurse-midwives, as these professionals are often on the front lines serving communities with acute health care needs.

Source: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-proposes-physician-payment-rule-improve-health-equity-patient-access