2022 QPP Final Rule & What It Means to You

Back in November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2022 Final Physician Fee Schedule that outlines Quality Payment Program (QPP)/Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) changes for next year. This blog will provide you with a high-level summary of changes to help you understand how to plan your quality improvement process for next year.

General Program Level Changes

• Performance Threshold increased to 75 points/exceptional bonus to 89 points
• Cost/Quality category weights changed by statue to 30 percent each
• Complex Patient Bonus will remain at up to 10 points
• Payment Adjustment stays at -/+ 9 percent

Specific Performance Category Changes

Quality:

• Removal of 13 CQMs
• Addition of 5 measures (but not eCQMs)
• Changes to 87 measures
• Bonus Points Eliminated
  • No end-to-end bonus points for electronic reporting
  • No High-Priority/Outcome measure bonus points
• 3-point floor removed for larger practices (>15 providers)

Promoting Interoperability:

• Automatic reweighting for small practices
• Attestation that practice has completed the SAFER Guide assessment

Cost:

• 5 new episodes cost options by specialty, which include:
  • 2 procedural measures: Melanoma resection; colon & rectal resection
  • 1 acute inpatient measure: Sepsis
  • 2 chronic condition measures: Diabetes; Asthma/Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Improvement Activities:

• 7 additional activities, with 3 focused on supporting health equity
• 6 removed

For more details on the changes, impacts to your practice, and how to plan for success next year, you can also watch our on-demand webinar.

Future Changes to the MIPS Program – MIPS Value Pathways

CMS has finalized the introduction of the MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs) beginning in 2023. They will gradually expand MVPs and have started with making 7 MVPs available. This is in response to feedback that the current structure of MIPS and the reporting requirements are complex, confusing, and offer too many choices when it comes to selecting and reporting measures and activities.

Thus, CMS’s intent with the establishment of MVPs is to streamline the reporting options and make them more specialty specific. This will consist of limited, connected, complementary sets of measures and activities that are meaningful to clinicians. MVP specific measures and activities will result in comparative performance data that is valuable to patients allowing them to evaluate provider performance and increase ownership of making decisions about their care.

The following specialties will have the option to report MVPS in 2023:

1. Rheumatology
2. Stroke Care and Prevention
3. Heart Disease
4. Chronic Disease Management
5. Emergency Medicine
6. Lower Extremity Joint Repair
7. Anesthesia

There will be more to come in 2022 in regard to how to indicate your practice’s interest in reporting through the MVP Model.

While there are many changes for 2022, the quality category reporting is where the most impactful changes will be felt. With the removal of bonus points and the 3-point benchmark floor for larger practices, quality reporting will require more of your practice’s attention (Tip: Plan now so that you can start your 2022 quality reporting strong). Also keep in mind that the Nextech team is here to help you.

Contact your Regulatory Consultant if you would like to talk through your 2022 reporting strategies. If you do not have a Regulatory Consultant and want to learn more about the services they provide to help you manage compliance and maximize MIPS at your practice, fill out this form and we will contact you.