January 04, 2018 04:40 pm News Staff – CMS recently made a long-awaited announcement that it is ready to begin receiving 2017 data from family physicians and other eligible clinicians participating in the Quality Payment Program (QPP).
In general, the period to submit data for 2017 runs from Jan. 2 to March 31 of this year; however, groups using the CMS web interface will submit data between Jan. 22 and March 16.
In a Jan. 2 press release, CMS noted that the new data submission system -- available through one platform on the agency's QPP website -- is a significant improvement over previous systems that required physicians to submit data on multiple websites.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma, M.P.H., noted in the release that the agency was required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) to implement the QPP, "and we are committed to doing so in the least burdensome way possible. The new data submission system makes it easier for clinicians to meet MACRA's reporting requirements and spend more time treating patients instead of filing paperwork."
To report data, first log in to the QPP data submission system using your Enterprise Identity Management (EIDM) credentials. For those who have not established an EIDM account, CMS has created a step-by-step guide to help users create one.
After logging in, the system will connect each user to the taxpayer identification number associated with his or her national provider identifier. Physicians and other eligible clinicians will report data as either individuals or a group.
Users will see their initial scoring in real time as they populate the performance categories; scoring may change if new data are entered or quality measures that have not yet been benchmarked are used.
Physicians should be aware that the performance category will not initially consider the user's alternative payment model (APM) status, qualifying APM participation status or other special status situations.
In the press release, CMS encouraged physicians to "log-in early and often to familiarize themselves with the system."
After the submission period closes, CMS will calculate physicians' payment adjustments on the last submission update.
Need help submitting data? Email QPP resource personnel or call 1-866-288-8292 for assistance.