On March 22, 2020, CMS announced relief for clinicians, providers, hospitals and facilities participating in quality reporting programs in response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The major implications on the MIPS program are:
- The Deadline for submission of 2019 MIPS data has been extended from March 31 to April 30, 2020.
- MIPS eligible clinicians who DO NOT submit data by the new deadline will be AUTOMATICALLY scored such that they will receive no adjustment to 2021 payments (neither bonus nor penalty).
Our recommendation: Unless your MIPS reporting was ready to go and you expect a very strong score, it is not worth the effort to submit.
Here’s why: The entire bonus pool is made up of $500 Million plus the sum of all penalties from poor performers. Since poor performers can avoid any penalty by not submitting, only strong performers are likely to even submit. Therefore, the pool of penalty money will be negligible. This means that only $500 Million will be available for bonuses and will be split among all the higher performers.
These links to the CMS website (added later) might be useful: CMS Memo, CMS Fact Sheet
How may I help?
There is a lot of information and advice out there, much of it conflicting – particularly as it pertains to relaxation of telehealth rules and loan programs. And it changes almost daily. I have been working non-stop to bring up to date, actionable information to doctors in private practice to help them weather the Covid19 storm and its impact on their practices and financial health. I offer myself as a resource to doctors seeking advice and information tailored to their needs. During this crisis, I have suspended all sales efforts. I just want to help. If you would like a discussion of how you can weather the storm and how you can prepare for reopening, please reach out.
Thank you for your work on the front lines, and please stay healthy!
Ken
