Reminder: The MIPS 2019 Data Submission Deadline is Next Month

MIPS Eligible Clinicians Have Next Month to Submit Data for 2019

The data submission deadline for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians who participated in the 2019 performance period of the Quality Payment Program is next month. Data can be submitted and updated any time until 8:00 p.m. EDT on March 31, 2020.

Please note, the data submission period through the CMS Web Interface for ACOs and pre-registered groups and virtual groups also closes on March 31, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. Quality measures reported via Medicare Part B claims have been submitted throughout the 2019 performance period. Sign in to qpp.cms.gov for your preliminary feedback on Part B claims measure data processed to date. We’ll update this feedback at the end of the submission period with claims processed by your Medicare Administrative Contractor within the 60 day run out period.

How to Submit Your 2019 MIPS Data

Clinicians will follow the steps outlined below to submit their data:

Go to the Quality Payment Program website
Sign in using your QPP access credentials (see below for directions)
Submit your MIPS data for the 2019 performance period or review the data reported on your behalf by a third party.

How to Sign In to the Quality Payment Program Data Submission System

To sign in and submit data, clinicians will need to register in the HCQIS Authorization Roles and Profile (HARP) system. For clinicians who need help enrolling with HARP, please refer to the QPP Access User Guide.

Note: Clinicians who are not sure if they are eligible to participate in the Quality Payment Program can check their final eligibility status using the QPP Participation Status Lookup Tool. Clinicians and groups that are opt-in eligible will need to make an election before they can submit data. (No election is required for those who don’t want to participate in MIPS.)

Small, Underserved, and Rural Practice Support

Clinicians in small practices (including those in rural locations), health professional shortage areas, and medically underserved areas may request technical assistance from organizations that can provide no-cost support. To learn more about this support, or to connect with your local technical assistance organization, we encourage you to visit our Small, Underserved, and Rural Practices page on the Quality Payment Program website.

For More Information

To learn more about how to submit data, please review the 2019 Data Submission FAQs and other resources available in the QPP Resource Library.
Watch our series of data submission demo videos:

Questions?

Please contact the Quality Payment Program at 1-866-288-8292, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-8:00 PM ET or by e-mail at: QPP@cms.hhs.gov.

Customers who are hearing impaired can dial 711 to be connected to a TRS Communications Assistant.

To receive assistance more quickly, consider calling during non-peak hours—before 10 AM and after 2 PM ET.

Now Available: Visit the eCQM Issue Tracker to Review eCQM Draft Measure Packages for 2021 Reporting/Performance Periods

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) invites vendors and stakeholders to review and provide feedback on draft electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) specifications that include logic and header changes for eCQMs under consideration for CMS quality reporting and payment programs.

This opportunity will allow CMS to learn from Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors who have the technical capabilities to review the draft measures in the Clinical Quality Language (CQL) standard for logic expression and test the Health Quality Measures Format (HQMF) code by directly consuming machine readable XML files for eCQMs. Testing will help CMS to identify instances in which the XML code produces errors so that issues can be resolved prior to posting the fully specified measures in spring 2020. The draft measures in HTML, XML, and JSON formats are available February 24, 2020 through March 6, 2020, on the ONC Project Tracking System (JIRA) eCQM Issue Tracker via the following tickets:

CQM-3905: Annual Update for the 2021 Reporting Period: Draft Preview of Eligible Hospital and Critical Access Hospital eCQMs
CQM-3904: Annual Update for the 2021 Performance Period: Draft Preview of Eligible Professional and Eligible Clinician eCQMs

Please report questions and comments regarding the draft measure packages to the eCQM Issue Tracker tickets listed above.

Updating eCQMs for 2021 Reporting/Performance Periods

CMS is updating Eligible Hospital/Critical Access Hospital and Eligible Professional/Eligible Clinician eCQMs for potential inclusion in the following programs:

Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program;

Medicare Promoting Interoperability Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs for Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals;
Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program for Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals
Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program for Eligible Professionals
Quality Payment Program (QPP): The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (Advanced APMs); and
Advanced APM: Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+).

The updated eCQMs will be available on the eCQI Resource Center in spring 2020. The measures will be expressed using CQL logic and will continue to use the Quality Data Model (QDM) as the conceptual model to express clinical concepts contained within quality measures. Refer to the QDM v5.5 and current version of the CQL standard to better understand how they work together to provide eCQMs that are human readable, yet structured for electronic processing. Measures will not be eligible for 2021 reporting unless and until they are proposed and finalized through notice-and-comment rulemaking for each applicable program.

For More Information

To find out more about eCQMs and CQL, visit the eCQI Resource Center.