CMS Launches Data Submission System for Clinicians in the Quality Payment Program

January 4th, 2018 - Find-A-Code

Categories: Medicare

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that doctors and other eligible clinicians participating in the Quality Payment Program can begin submitting their 2017 performance data using a new system on the Quality Payment Program website (qpp.cms.gov). The data submission system is an improvement from the former systems under the CMS legacy programs, which required clinicians to submit data on multiple websites. Now, eligible clinicians will use the new system to submit their 2017 performance data for the Quality Payment Program during the 2017 submission period which runs from January 2, 2018 to March 31, 2018, except for groups using the CMS Web Interface whose submission period is January 22, 2018 to March 16, 2018.

“The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) requires CMS to implement the Quality Payment Program, and we are committed to doing so in the least burdensome way possible,” said Seema Verma, Administrator of CMS. “The new data submission system makes it easier for clinicians to meet MACRA’s reporting requirements and spend more time treating patients instead of filing paperwork.”

Eligible clinicians will be required to log into the system. After logging in, the system will connect each eligible clinician to the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) associated with their National Provider Identifier (NPI). Eligible clinicians will report data either as an individual or a group.

There are multiple data submission options, including Qualified Clinical Data Registries (QCDRs), qualified registries, attestation, or the CMS Web Interface. Eligible clinicians can also submit data using a Health IT Vendor, which extracts data from certified EHR technology; however, in the spirit of flexibility and burden reduction, eligible clinicians can generate a non-certified report in either the new Quality Payment Program file format or QRDA III file format and manually upload the file into the submission system.

As data is entered into the system, eligible clinicians will see real-time initial scoring within each of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance categories based on their submissions. This scoring may change if new data is reported or quality measures that have not yet been benchmarked are used. Additionally, the performance category score will not initially take into account the user’s Alternative Payment Model (APM) status, Qualifying APM Participant (QP) status, or other special status that may apply to clinicians.

Eligible clinicians are encouraged to log-in early and often to familiarize themselves with the system. Data can be updated at any time during the submission period. Once the submission period closes on March 31, 2018 (with the exception of the CMS Web Interface, which ends on March 16, 2018), we will calculate your payment adjustment based on your last submission or submission update.

Eligible clinicians who need assistance with the data submission system may contact the Quality Payment Program by email at qpp@cms.hhs.gov or toll free at 1-866-288-8292. Eligible clinicians have until March 31, 2018 to submit data for the 2017 transition year, unless they are part of a group reporting via the CMS Web Interface.

For a fact sheet on the Quality Payment Program data submission system, including more information for clinicians participating in APMs, please visit: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Payment-Program/Resource-Library/QPP-2017-Data-Submission-Factsheet.pdf

###

Questions, comments?

If you have questions or comments about this article please contact us. Comments that provide additional related information may be added here by our Editors.

Latest articles: (any category)

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Medical Coder's Perspective
December 26th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

We constantly hear how AI is creeping into every aspect of healthcare but what does that mean for medical coders and how can we better understand the language used in the codeset? Will AI take my place or will I learn with it and become an integral part of the process that uses AI to enhance my abilities?

Specialization: Your Advantage as a Medical Coding Contractor
December 22nd, 2023 - Find-A-Code

Medical coding contractors offer a valuable service to healthcare providers who would rather outsource coding and billing rather than handling things in-house. Some contractors are better than others, but there is one thing they all have in common: the need to present some sort of value proposition in order to land new clients. As a contractor, your value proposition is the advantage you offer. And that advantage is specialization.

ICD-10-CM Coding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
December 19th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

Chronic respiratory disease is on the top 10 chronic disease list published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although it is a chronic condition, it may be stable for some time and then suddenly become exacerbated and even impacted by another acute respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, RSV, or COVID-19. Understanding the nuances associated with the condition and how to properly assign ICD-10-CM codes is beneficial.

Changes to COVID-19 Vaccines Strike Again
December 12th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

According to the FDA, CDC, and other alphabet soup entities, the old COVID-19 vaccines are no longer able to treat the variants experienced today so new vaccines have been given the emergency use authorization to take the place of the old vaccines. No sooner was the updated 2024 CPT codebook published when 50 of the codes in it were deleted, some of which were being newly added for 2024.

Updated ICD-10-CM Codes for Appendicitis
November 14th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

With approximately 250,000 cases of acute appendicitis diagnosed annually in the United States, coding updates were made to ensure high-specificity coding could be achieved when reporting these diagnoses. While appendicitis almost equally affects both men and women, the type of appendicitis varies, as dose the risk of infection, sepsis, and perforation.

COVID Vaccine Coding Changes as of November 1, 2023
October 26th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli

COVID vaccine changes due to the end of the PHE as of November 1, 2023 are addressed in this article.

Medicare Guidance Changes for E/M Services
October 11th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli

2023 brought quite a few changes to Evaluation and management (E/M) services. The significant revisions as noted in the CPT codebook were welcome changes to bring other E/M services more in line with the changes that took place with Office or Other Outpatient Services a few years ago. As part of CMS’ Medicare Learning Network, the “Evaluation and Management Services Guide” publication was finally updated as of August 2023 to include the changes that took place in 2023. If you take a look at the new publication (see references below),....