What is Direct Messaging? Direct Messaging is an integrated feature of Nextech, offered by our third-party partner Secure Exchange Solutions (SES). Secure Exchange Solutions is part of the Direct Trust Bundle, which is wrapped up in the MACRA requirements for interoperability. In Stage 2 of Meaningful Use, we saw the introduction of the Health Information Exchange requirement. Modified Stage 2 brought further implementation of the measure, requiring that a patient’s summary of care be sent electronically 10% of the time for all transitions of care, however eligible providers (EP’s) could be excluded if they transitioned less than 100 patients out of their care in the given reporting period. Moving forward under MACRA, the emphasis is no longer on meeting a specific threshold, but rather, encourages eligible clinicians (EC’s) to utilize the functionality for Health Information Exchange as much as possible.

While the implementation of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) within the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) may seem daunting, the program does offer some data capture and reporting relief to practices. MACRA takes elements from three existing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) programs—the Physician Quality Report System (PQRS), the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program (commonly known as Meaningful Use or MU) and the Value-Based Modifier (VBM)—and consolidates them to one QPP avenue: the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). This means that practices have less overall data to capture, track and report.

Ready or not, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Quality Payment Program (QPP) and its associated financial incentives and penalties start next year. Unlike previous pay-for-performance programs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has done away with “all or nothing” rules for earning payment adjustments with the QPP’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APM).

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) is a major piece of legislation that contains two value-based care programs that will affect nearly all physicians: the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APM).

Everyone has heard the buzz about MACRA, but it seems there may be more questions than answers as the new year approaches. Below are the answers to four of the most frequently asked questions about MACRA.

The 2,398-page final rule for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was released in October. In the wake of this new ruling, a survey conducted by Medscape found that nearly 30 percent of physicians had never heard of MACRA as recently as mid-September. This seems like a large number of physicians who are still in the dark, considering that the law could positively or negatively affect their Medicare reimbursements by as much as nine percent.

The proposed MACRA rule has created a lot of buzz - not all positive - in the healthcare IT industry as we approach the latter months of 2016. With a proposed start date of Jan. 1, 2017, many healthcare professionals are scrambling to get their heads around the impact MACRA will have on their practice.

In a somewhat troubling report, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions 2016 Survey of U.S. Physicians found that only 50 percent of non-pediatric physicians have even heard of The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). This survey comes shortly after the public comment period ended on the proposed MACRA law, which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced earlier in the year. The final rule is expected to come this fall.