CMS grants docs reprieve from MACRA implementation
Here’s how you can take advantage of this breathing room.
CMS
Related:
Belokrinitsky
“The announcement is the next round of a conversation between the physician community and the CMS, in an effort to produce a better policy. More changes are possible,” says Igor Belokrinitsky, principal with strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business, and with PwC U.S. “The announcement relaxes some of the pressure by allowing physicians more flexibility and the ability to kick the tires and become more comfortable with the inputs and outputs of the process in 2017.”
During 2017, eligible physicians and other clinicians will choose one of four options for participating, including testing the payment option, participating for part of the calendar year, participating for the full calendar year or joining an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM), such as Medicare Shared Savings Track 2 or 3 in 2017.
The previous version of the rule placed a lot of emphasis on 2017 as the year when the performance measurement would begin, with the payments for 2017 performance occurring in 2019. Choosing one of these options would ensure you do not receive a negative payment adjustment in 2019, according to CMS. These options and other supporting details will be described fully in the final rule on November 1.
“More specifically, physicians can choose to test the program, without fear of a negative payment adjustment,” Belokrinitsky says. “Physicians can also choose to participate for only a part of the year or for the entire year, or, for the most advanced practices, pursue the Advanced [Alternative] Payment Model. Most practices are expected to choose the alternative to the AMP, called the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System [MIPS].”
Internal server error