One patient, one measure, no penalty

ASCO is pleased to announce that its Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI^®) Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) is available now for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting. By using the QOPI QCDR for MIPS reporting, practices will be able to report on one measure for one patient in 2017 to avoid any cuts to Medicare reimbursements in 2019.

Under the CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP)—the new reimbursement system that MACRA authorizes—the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) has been replaced with MIPS. CMS has given practices through 2017 to prepare for these changes, dubbing the year as “Pick Your Pace.” To give providers time to adapt to this new system, in 2017 CMS is requiring practices to report on only one measure to avoid a 4% Medicare reimbursement penalty in 2019.

Practices are able to begin registering to participate in the QOPI QCDR. Once registration is complete, they will be able to meet their MIPS requirements by reporting on one or more of the 16 measures available in the registry. While one measure is the minimum requirement to avoid the 2019 penalty, ASCO encourages practices to report on at least four measures to become fully acquainted with the system and ensure that the CMS requirements are met. The deadline to register is October 1, 2017. (Note: Registration to use the QOPI QCDR is free, but there is a cost of $75 per provider to submit data to CMS.)

The American Medical Association (AMA) designated the week of June 26, 2017, as “Pick Your Pace Week.” The AMA developed a short video, “One patient, one measure, no penalty: How to avoid a Medicare payment penalty with basic reporting,” which is accessible online at ama-assn.org/qpp-reporting. Physicians can also find a sample CMS-1500 claim form, links to quality measures on the CMS website, a link to the CMS MIPS eligibility tool, and other materials.

MIPS reporting is one of the many opportunities available in the QOPI Reporting Registry. For more information on QOPI, please visit the ASCO Institute for Quality.