According to the CMS announcement, it is not too late to participate in the first year the transition year of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). With their announcement CMS appears to be giving a hint that the best odds of receiving a positive payment adjustment is to collect and submit data for at least a 90 day period or more.
Are you required to participate?
By now, most providers know if they are eligible (required) to participate in MIPS in 2017 and how much data they will be submitting: a minimal amount of data (<90 days), data covering a consecutive 90-day period, or data covering a full year. The announcement includes an important reminder that if you are eligible to participate but choose not to submit data, you'll get a negative 4% payment adjustment which will go into effect on January 1, 2019.
CMS sent out letters to providers indicating participation status; however, we have learned several providers for one reason or another have not received a letter and have not been sure of their participation status. Thankfully, CMS has a tool that makes it easy to check participation status. Simply visit https://qpp.cms.gov/ and enter a NPI number in the text box and click on Check NPI.
Data Submission
Finally, CMS reminds us that your 2017 MIPS performance data should be submitted January 2 through March 31, 2018. It's important to note that as long as you submit something, even data you collect as of December 31st, you will be able to avoid a negative payment adjustment. However, the more data you submit in a timely manner, in the data submission window the better the odds of receiving a positive payment adjustment in 2019.
If you have any questions about MIPS participation contact us today by phone: 855-427 0427 or by email: [email protected].