Medicare Payment Changes
At Carolina Professional Consultants, Inc., we are researching and using our best sources to provide you with as many updates regarding the Quality Payment Program Reporting. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time. Avoid Medicare payment penalties through basic reporting. According to the American Medical Association, this is the first year physicians will need to report on quality measures under the new Quality Payment Program (QPP) from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This will be the most significant change in Medicare physician payment policy in over 25 years.
A final rule released on Oct. 14, 2016 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) details the final regulations for implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), the historic Medicare reform law that repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and created the Quality Payment Program (QPP). The final rule creates 2 payment pathways for physicians—alternative payment models (APMs) and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).
For more information about alternative payment models (APMs) click here. For more information about Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) click here.
The AMA has been working for several years to encourage the development and implementation of better Medicare payment models that will:
Give physicians more resources and greater flexibility to deliver appropriate care to their patients than they have today
Improve the financial viability of physician practices in all specialties, and help independent practices of all sizes remain independent
Minimize physician administrative burdens that do not improve the quality of patient care
Enable physicians to help control aspects of health care spending that they can influence, rather than having Medicare use inappropriate mechanisms to control costs such as payment cuts, prior authorization and/or non-coverage of services
Avoid transferring inappropriate financial risk to physicians or jeopardizing the quality of patient care
For more information about the new Quality Payment Program (QPP) visit https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/medicare-payment-delivery-changes.