Promoting Interoperability (formerly known as Advancing Care Information) takes first place as the category undergoing the most change in Year 3 of the Quality Payment Program. Under the Final Rule released November 1, 2018, CMS updated the Promoting Interoperability category to reflect the goal of a more simplified evaluation and scoring approach.

MEASURES

With the removal, restructuring and addition of new measures, the objectives that eligible clinicians must report on drops from eleven down to four. CMS listened to feedback, and received many comments on provider inability to control what patients do once they leave your office. Therefore, they removed Secure Messaging, View-Download & Transmit, as well as Patient Generated Health Data. All of these objectives require the patient to act in order for the provider to meet the requirements. They’re gone for 2019.

For the second set of measures, CMS removed Patient Education and Medication Reconciliation, since providers have historically performed very well on them. This is in keeping with the goal of streamlining and reducing the reporting burden.

“What’s left?” The required measure set includes:

• Electronic Prescribing
• Health Information Exchange
• Provider to Patient Exchange (Access)
• Public Health/Clinical Data Exchange

Security Risk Assessments are STILL REQUIRED. However, CMS has removed the objective from the list of measures, since it is required for ALL practices regardless of particularization in the program.

SCORING

In addition to the objective changes, CMS also reshaped their approach to scoring for Promoting Interoperability. They moved away from the flexible approach of base, performance and bonus, and it will be a straight scoring approach for 2019. While this reduces the overall complexity, it also makes it MORE CHALLENGING to receive full credit!

Join our upcoming webinar. We will walk you through these changes and discuss how they impact Year 3 in the Promoting Interoperability performance category.

Webinar – QPP Year 3: Promoting Interoperability
Thursday December 13  12-1 p.m. ET

Contact our Quality Experts at Kentucky REC with your questions. Call us at 859-323-3090