New quality benchmarks for 2017 and much more

September 29, 2017

Written by Kristen Schuster, Practice Facilitator

Fourth quarter is a busy time for the CPC+ program. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released new eCQM benchmarks, attribution methodology and new measures for 2018. The changes were made based on feedback from providers. They are intended to help practices retain a greater portion of the incentive payment.

2017 eCQM and CAHPS

The minimum threshold is now the 30th percentile
The maximum threshold is now the 70th percentile
The CAHPS survey maximum threshold is now the 70th percentile

How does a practice retain their quality payment?

To retain a portion of the Quality Component, practices must meet the reporting requirements and meet the 30th percentile benchmark for at least one quality measure (eCQM or the CAHPS Summary Score)
To retain the FULL amount of the quality component:

Achieve the 30th percentile benchmark for all ten quality measures (Nine eCQM and CAHPS)
Achieve the 70th percentile for six out of ten quality measures (this can be a combination of eCQMs and CAHPS)

Remember: It is crucial to monitor your eCQMs over time and make clinical improvements based on data. Are you unsure of what the benchmarks are? Mountain-Pacific has created a tool to monitor your practices progress towards meeting the quality benchmarks. The tool is located here.

Attribution Changes

Annual Wellness Visits will automatically assign a patient to your practice if they are not enrolled in Chronic Care Management (CCM)
If the patient has not had an Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) and is not enrolled in CCM, the patient will be attributed to the provider with the plurality of care

New eCQMs for 2018!

18 eCQMs to choose from
Three measures have been retired

High risk medications in the elderly
Depression screening and remission at 12 months
Use of imaging studies for low back pain

See a full list of the new measures here

Remember: It is important to work with your vendor prior to January 1st, 2018 to ensure the proper eCQM reports are in place. If you practices has reported any of the retired measures for 2017 you will need to choose new measures for 2018.

Also, please refer to CPC+ Connect to network with other CPC+ practices utilizing the same EHR for ideas and best practices. On the Plus Side is a weekly newsletter, emailed to all subscribers that lists upcoming educational events, CPC+ tasks and links to CMS resources. As always, complete CPC+ information from CMS can be found on the CPC+ Connect Portal. We encourage you to access the portal and check out all available CMS CPC+ resources.

If you have any questions, or run into issues with any of the CPC+ objectives and would like help please use the “Leave a Reply” section below, or email Kristen Schuster directly with your questions or comments.

Other Resource Links

Recorded CMS Feedback Report Webinar
CMS Change Package
See all CPC+ Blog Posts

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