The Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act 2015 (MACRA) is all set for its first performance year starting January 2017, but with less than three weeks left, are practices truly ready?
By  introducing two pathways under the Quality Payment Program, MACRA hopes to limit resources wasted on clinical activities that do not promote value-based care through the active use of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software. The transition for value-based care has been in the works for the last few years; effecting all aspects of healthcare including specialty specific EMR, such as pediatrics EMR and dermatology EMR; but MACRA aims to streamline it further for greater overall productivity.
EMR Systems has compiled a comprehensive Merit-Based Incentive Payment Systems (MIPS) Resource to help with all your MACRA needs. To ensure your practice is ready for the coming year, just go through our detailed checklist:

  • Is your EMR technology certified?

Many measures under MIPS performance categories are reported directly through certified EMR software. This not only enables ease of reporting for clinicians, it also ensures reporting is accurate. Clinicians  stand to gain bonus points for using EMR software to conduct clinical activities, and reporting. Confirm that your EMR vendor is certified before the year is out!

  • Has your practice consistently met Quality reporting measures?

Instead of replacing the previous reporting measures, MIPS incorporates them to greater effect within its performance categories. So it stands to reasons that clinicians who kept abreast of quality reporting measures previously won’t find the MIPS measures too hard to comply with.

  • Is your practice going it alone or part of a group?

MACRA has allowed clinicians to report as an individual clinician or as part of a group of clinicians. Once decided, the clinician is obliged to report under all performance categories as a group or individual. Both options provide their set of advantages and disadvantages. Take a look at your practice and make the decision that benefits you the most.

  • Have you explored the MIPS measures?

EMR Systems hosts an onsite measure checklist divided by medical specialty, which is further vetted for high priority measures. Explore the list to discover the ones your clinic excels at and develop a strategy for 2017. A game plan will make the coming year seem less daunting.
The final MACRA rule has made it clear that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) wants to work with clinicians to bring about value-based change to healthcare. 2017 is a transition year for clinicians and CMS themselves to make changes to MACRA that will benefit healthcare, rather than make it stringent and oppressive.