MACRA

MACRA

Delivery System Reform, Medicare Payment Reform

What's the Quality Payment Program?

The Quality Payment Program makes Medicare better by helping you focus on care quality and the one thing that matters most – making patients healthier. The Quality Payment Program ends the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and gives you new tools, models, and resources to help you give your patients the best possible care. You can choose how you want to take part based on your practice size, specialty, location, or patient population.

The Quality Payment Program has 2 tracks you can choose from:

1. The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)

2. Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs)

Where can I find more information about the Quality Payment Program?

• Get more details about the Quality Payment Program.

• Attend or replay webinars.

• Find the Support for Small Practices fact sheet.

• Download the 2017 Quality Payment Program QCDR Self-Nomination User Guide.

• Learn more about the Physician Focused Payment Models (PFPMs) Technical Committee.

• Read and comment on the patient relationship categories and codes

• Find the episode groups summary and make comments on the Supplemental Episode Groups, Episode Workbooks, and Design Report.

• Request a CMS speaker to give your group more details about the Quality Payment Program.

• Find the Quality Payment Program widgets at the bottom of this page.

What’s the CMS Quality Measure Development Plan (MDP)?

Our Quality Measure Development Plan (MDP), required by MACRA section 102, is a focused framework to help us build and improve quality measures for clinicians. These quality measures will support MIPS and advanced APMs. We posted the draft MDP on December 18, 2015, and asked for the public’s comments through March 1, 2016. We received and carefully considered comments and feedback from 60 individuals and 150 institutions.

On May 2, 2016, we posted the final Quality Measure Development Plan (MDP) that incorporates main themes and specific recommendations from the public comments. We will prepare an annual report on progress in developing quality measures for the Quality Payment Program and update the MDP as needed.

Where can I learn more about the CMS MDP?

We called together a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) on November 17, 2016 to work on the 2017 MDP Annual Report and future MDP updates. The TEP used an environmental scan and gap analysis to develop recommendations for advancing clinician quality measurement.

• Read the MDP TEP Meeting Summary.

• Study the findings of the 2016 CMS MDP Environmental Scan and Gap Analysis Report.

The summary and report focus on the initial set of priorities and specialty gap areas found in the MDP. We expect to find more specialty and subspecialty priorities in ongoing environmental scans and gap analyses. This helps us to:

• Get expert input.

• Gauge quality measures.

• Lessen clinician burden.

• Meet our goal of a person-centered, value-based measures to support the Quality Payment Program.

Contact MACRA-MDP@hsag.com for more information.

MACRA requires us to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards. When we replace the SSN on all Medicare cards, we can better protect:

• Private health care and financial information

• Federal health care benefit and service payments