Your 2018 MIPS Action Plan

At Kareo, we're here to help you on your journey through Year 2 of the MIPS incentive program reporting process. We’ve created the QPP 2018 Action Plan to provide you with the necessary information, steps and organization to get you from preparation to data submission. Here are some initial steps:

1. Prepare 

Confirm you are a MIPS eligible clinician (EC). Kareo can help check your eligibility for MIPS in 2018.  However, you may confirm yourself by answering the following questions:

• Do you have $90K or more in Medicare Part B allowed charges?
• Do you have over 200 Medicare Part B patients?

You can find more details in our 2018 QPP Eligibility Assessment. 

2. Create a Team 

Achieving the requirements for MIPS 2018 takes the cooperation of the entire practice, so enlist the help of the key staff members who are willing to meet weekly to check progress and make the necessary workflow adjustments to increase your performance.

The ideal team should include the eligible clinician(s), office manager, and clinical assistant. It is important to discuss roles and responsibilities and set expectations.

3. Take Action 

Educate yourself and your team. Establish recurring weekly or bi-weekly meetings to learn as a team about the QPP options, requirements and important deadlines.  A few key responsibilities must be assigned:

• Designate the team member who will be responsible for running your MIPS Advancing Care and Quality Reports  
• Decide who will be responsible for staying informed—gathering details on any upcoming webinars, newsletters, blogs, announcements sent by Kareo, or updates from CMS. Information gathered should be shared and reviewed in team meetings.
• Review and select your measures for Quality, Advancing Care Information (ACI), and Improvement Activities (IA)
• Discuss and establish your performance goals
• Determine your reporting period: 90 days or a full year for ACI and IA (Quality must be reported for a full year)

Here's a handy graphic that shows an overview of your 2018 MIPS Action Plan. 

4. Get Started

Once you have confirmed your eligibility for MIPS 2018, created your team and have an action plan in place, you are ready to get started! 

First, create your MIPS 2018 audit binder or folder. It is best to keep a hardcopy as well as an electronic version of this folder. Your binder should include a minimum of four sections; one for each MIPS category: Quality, Advancing Care Information, Improvement Activities and Cost. The purpose of your audit binder is to be audit proof. Keep all things MIPS 2018 in it including: 

• Copies of your Quality reports
• Copies of your Advancing Care Information reports
• Any documentation to support any Improvement Activities selected (reports cannot be run for Improvement Activities)
• A copy of your Security Risk Analysis (this one of the most important items you must keep in your binder)
• Any screenshots you took within Kareo EHR-Clinical to support any given objective

Next, refine the team's knowledge on MIPS 2018. The following websites are your best resources:

• https://www.kareo.com/macra
• https://qpp.cms.gov/
• https://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms 

It is important that the entire team has a general understanding of what is required in MIPS 2018; as well as a clear understanding of the consequences of not meeting the requirements. Before you select measures for each category, you must determine your submission method as well as your reporting period for ACI and IA. Quality must be reported for the full 2018 calendar year. 

Things to keep in mind:

• Submission Methods: QCDR, Registry, Claims (only for quality)
• Your reporting period for Advancing Care Information and Improvement Activities
• If your submission method is via QCDR or registry, you must select measures that are supported by your EHR

At this point, you are ready to make your measure selections for each category. If you're interested in how Kareo supports the MIPS process, feel free to check out the MIPS Quality Dashboard and MIPS Advancing Care Information Dashboard guides.