Wanted: Bank information to pay APM bonuses

Are you expecting a 5% bonus under the Medicare Quality Payment Program (QPP) for participating in an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) in 2017 and still haven’t received it? If so, you may be among the more than 2,800 providers for whom Medicare doesn’t have the necessary banking information.

In a payment advisory published Dec. 30, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it does not have the current banking information needed to disburse an Advanced APM Incentive Payment to certain eligible clinicians. The advisory provided information about how clinicians can update their banking information and receive payment.

CMS has also posted a list of the affected clinicians, including names and National Provider Identifiers (NPIs), online. Clinicians who are on the list should follow the directions for contacting CMS and providing updated information.

If you find your name and NPI on the list, you may start the verification process by emailing your name, email address, and NPI to APMIncentivePayment@cms.hhs.gov. Upon receiving your name and NPI, CMS will email you the secure process for providing your updated banking information. The deadline to provide the information is Feb. 28, 2020.

If you have questions, or want to know more, please contact the QPP for assistance by calling 1-866-288-8292 (TTY: 1-877-715-6222) or sending an email to qpp@cms.hhs.gov.

— Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment at the American Academy of Family Physicians.