MIPS: Improvement Activity Category – The New One

December 23, 2016

Written by Sarah Leake

QPP Greetings!   It’s not too early to start preparing for MIPS reporting in 2017. There are four categories in the MIPS program – Quality, Advancing Care Information, Cost, and the new program category, Improvement Activities. These new improvement activities were added as a CMS strategy to achieve the goals of better, smarter, and healthier care using a patient centered approach.

The Improvement Activities category accounts for 15% of your final score. Each Activity is assigned a weight of either high or medium. A total of 92 Improvement Activities were identified by clinician organizations and stakeholders as activities that improve clinical practice or care delivery and are likely to result in improved outcomes.  The QPP website has this list of 92 activities which can be searched based on specific categories.

GOOD NEWS: You do not have to report all 92 activities!  You can report on one to four activities depending upon the pace you pick in 2017.

Your approach to activity selection should be based on what best fits your practice.

• Some Improvement Activities also qualify for Advancing Care Information bonus points. This is to recognize that EHR technology is deployed to improve care.
• There are three activities that involve working with a QIN/QIO such as Mountain-Pacific. Here are the names of the activities:
  • Engagement with QIN-QIO to improve health status of communities.
  • Additional improvements in access as a result of QIN/QIO TA.
  • Use of toolsets or other resources to close health care disparities across communities.

Data Submission Mechanisms and CMS Feedback
Completion of Improvement Activities will be reported using attestation methodology. There are multiple options to report your data depending on Individual Eligible Clinicians or Group reporting. CMS is finalizing a process for providing performance feedback to Eligible Clinicians. Initially, CMS will provide feedback annually.

Resource Links

Explore Improvement Activities

Post contributed by Catherine Nelson QIO, Mountain-Pacific in Hawaii.

Leave a reply, ask a question or share information using the “Leave a Reply” section below, or email Sarah Leake directly with your questions or comments.

 

Subscribe to the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Blog
Subscribe

 

---