Now Available: 2020 MIPS Performance Feedback, Final Score, and 2022 MIPS Payment Adjustment Information

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) has released Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance feedback and final scores for performance year 2020 and associated MIPS payment adjustment information for payment year 2022.

You can view your MIPS performance feedback, final score, and payment adjustment on the Quality Payment Program website.

You can access your 2020 MIPS performance feedback, 2020 final score, and 2022 payment adjustment information by:
• Going to cms.gov/login
• Logging in using your HCQIS Access Roles and Profile (HARP) system credentials; these are the same credentials that allowed you to submit your 2020 MIPS data

If you don’t have a HARP account, please refer to the Register for a HARP Account and Connect to an Organization documents in the QPP Access User Guide and start the process now.

For Shared Savings Program ACOs, please note that beginning August 5, 2021, you will be able to create a HARP account and manage your account in the ACO Management System (ACO-MS). Contact your ACO to find out how you can obtain a HARP account via ACO-MS. If you have any questions, please contact the ACO Information Center at SharedSavingsProgram@cms.hhs.gov or 1-888-734-6433 (Option 1).

To learn more about the information in your performance feedback, review the following 2020 MIPS Performance Feedback Resources:
• NEW! 2020 Performance Period Benchmarks (ZIP) – Identifies the performance period benchmark results (as available) for measures without a historical benchmark and provides general information about performance period benchmarks.
• 2020 MIPS Performance Feedback FAQs (PDF) – Highlights what performance feedback is, who receives the feedback, and how to access it on the Quality Payment Program website.
• 2022 MIPS Payment Year Payment Adjustment User Guide (PDF) – Reviews information about the calculation and application of MIPS payment adjustments, and answers frequently asked questions.

MIPS Eligible Clinicians Participating in MIPS Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities

Individual clinicians and representatives of APM Entities will also be able to access performance feedback directly on the Quality Payment Program website using their HARP account. Note: Performance feedback is not related to model-specific requirements and assessments outside of the Quality Payment Program.

COVID-19 Flexibilities

CMS has continued to implement flexibilities for the Quality Payment Program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied the MIPS automatic extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy to all individual MIPS eligible clinicians for the 2020 performance period, and we reopened the 2020 Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception Application to allow requests for reweighting of the MIPS performance categories to 0% for groups, virtual groups and APM Entities.

The 2020 MIPS final scores available on the Quality Payment Program website reflect these COVID-19 flexibilities. Learn more about the COVID-19 flexibilities in the COVID-19 Response Fact Sheet and COVID-19 Response Webpage.

Questions?

Contact the Quality Payment Program at 1-866-288-8292 or by e-mail at: QPP@cms.hhs.gov. To receive assistance more quickly, please consider calling during non-peak hours—before 10:00 a.m. and after 2:00 p.m. ET.
• Customers who are hearing impaired can dial 711 to be connected to a TRS Communications Assistant.
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Now Available: 2020 MIPS Targeted Review

If you participated in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in 2020, you can now review your performance feedback, including your MIPS final score and payment adjustment factor(s), on the Quality Payment Program website.

For MIPS eligible clinicians, your 2020 final score determines the payment adjustment you’ll receive in 2022, with a positive, negative, or neutral payment adjustment being applied to the Medicare paid amount for covered professional services furnished in 2022.

MIPS eligible clinicians, groups, and virtual groups (along with their designated support staff or authorized third party intermediary), including APM participants, may request that CMS review the calculation of their MIPS payment adjustment factor(s) through a process called targeted review.

When to Request a Targeted Review

If you believe an error has been made in the calculation of your MIPS payment adjustment factor(s), you can request a targeted review until October 1, 2021. Some examples of previous targeted review circumstances include the following:
• Data was submitted under the wrong Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) or National Provider Identifier (NPI)
• Eligibility and special status issues (e.g., you fall below the low-volume threshold and shouldn’t receive a payment adjustment)
• Performance categories weren’t automatically reweighted even though you qualify for reweighting due to extreme and uncontrollable circumstances

Note: This is not a comprehensive list of circumstances. If you have questions about whether a targeted review is warranted for your circumstance, please contact the Quality Payment Program.

How to Request a Targeted Review

You can access your MIPS final score and performance feedback and request a targeted review by:
• Going to the Quality Payment Program website
• Logging in using your HCQIS Access Roles and Profile System (HARP) credentials; these are the same credentials that allowed you to submit your MIPS data. Please refer to the QPP Access Guide for additional details.

For Shared Savings Program ACOs, please note that beginning August 5, 2021, you will be able to create a HARP account and manage your account in the ACO Management System (ACO-MS). Contact your ACO to find out how you can obtain a HARP account via ACO-MS. If you have any questions, please contact the ACO Information Center at SharedSavingsProgram@cms.hhs.gov or 1-888-734-6433 (Option 1).

CMS generally requires documentation to support a targeted review request, which varies by circumstance. You’ll be contacted by a representative with information about any specific documentation required. If the targeted review request is approved and results in a scoring change, we’ll update your final score and/or associated payment adjustment (if applicable), as soon as technically feasible. Please note that targeted review decisions are final and not eligible for further review.

For more information about how to request a targeted review, please refer to the 2020 Targeted Review User Guide (PDF). For more information on payment adjustments please refer to the 2022 MIPS Payment Year Payment Adjustment User Guide (PDF).

Questions?

Contact the Quality Payment Program at 1-866-288-8292 or by e-mail at: QPP@cms.hhs.gov. To receive assistance more quickly, please consider calling during non-peak hours—before 10:00 a.m. and after 2:00 p.m. ET. Customers who are hearing impaired can dial 711 to be connected to a TRS Communications Assistant.

Contact the experts at Kentucky REC for all your QPP, MIPS, and APM questions. We’re here to help: 859-323-3090.