Dive Brief:
- CMS will soon begin releasing details of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt said.
- The program, part of last year’s Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, requires CMS to rate doctors on four factors: Quality, resource use, technology use, and practice enhancements.
- Slavitt discussed implementation of MACRA and MIPS at the American Medical Association’s National Advocacy Conference Monday in Washington, D.C.
Dive Insight:
CMS has committed to shifting 50% of Medicare fee-for-service payments to a value-based model by 2018. To help facilitate that change, CMS will spend $650 million to support more than 140,000 physicians transitioning to value-based payment.
In addition, the agency is conducting eight physician focus groups in four markets around the country to hear directly their concerns about the MIPS program.
“We are partnering with organizations and physician specialty societies across the country to help support these physicians to use data, technology, and quality measurements to improve care for their patients,” Slavitt said.
Slavitt said the payment model will be flexible and sensitive to the goals of a physician’s patient population and practice. But he stressed that the goal is to reward doctors for spending more time with their patients, rather than the number of drugs, tests or technologies they prescribe.
Since MACRA is limited to physician offices, CMS is also looking at ways to incentivize hospitals to adopt these principles, Slavitt added.