Everyone is working on gathering a better understanding of the Merit-Based Incentive Program (MIPS). We are working on selecting quality measures that will work for the practice along with changes we need to put into place for the Advancing Care Information (ACI) measures. However, there is an area I find people are not exactly sure how to incorporate into their practice. This is the Clinical Improvement Activities.
Clinical Improvement Activities are new to all of us, including CMS. This component represents 15% of your final MIPS score. While that number may not seem very high, every point counts in your final score. CMS has recognized in the final MACRA ruling that they need to know more about how this component will impact practices of varying sizes and make up. As a result, they are conducting a study of the Clinical Improvement Activities to gain a better understanding of the component.
Study Purpose
The ultimate goal of the study is to make the quality data submission and collection process better for your practice. The study goals are to:
- Learn more about clinical workflows and data collection with different systems.
- Understand your challenges when you collect and report quality data.
- Recommend ways to ease clinician burden, simplify quality data collection and reporting, and strengthen clinical care.
Full Credit for Clinical Improvement Activities
If you are participating in MIPS and want to get full credit for the Clinical Improvement Activities section, you may want to apply for this study. You will be actively participating in the future outlook of the program and receiving full credit for this component. However, you will be required to fully participate to earn the 15%. You will need do a few things during the calendar year of 2017.
- Fill out at least 3 surveys
- Take part in at least 3 focus groups
- Send CMS at least 3 clinician quality performance measures
Practice and Clinician Focus
There is limited availability to participate in this study and CMS is looking for practices that represent those from the list below to participate in the study.
- 10 – Rural Individual Eligible Clinicians or Groups of less than 3
- 10 – Non-Rural Individual Eligible Clinicians or Groups of less than 3
- 10 – Groups of 3-8 Eligible Clinicians
- 5 – Groups of 9-20 Eligible Clinicians
- 3 – Groups of 21-100 Eligible Clinicians
- 2 – Groups of <100 Eligible Clinicians
- 2 – Specialist Groups
How to Apply
If you are eligible for MIPS and want to take advantage of this study, you can download the application HERE. The deadline for submission is January 31, 2017.
