On November 4, 2016, CMS published the Medicare Program Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Incentive under the Physician Fee Schedule and Criteria for Physician-Focused Payment Models final rule (MACRA). The team at SLI ComplianceSM wants to share the following highlights to help you keep as up-to-date as possible on these changes and how they may affect you.

MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act) has created two tracks for providers – MIPS (Merit-Based Incentive Payment Systems) and APMs (Advanced Alternative Payment Systems). These tracks will be replacing existing programs and parts of the current EHR Incentive program (i.e., Meaningful Use). It is important to know that even with the replacement of Meaningful Use, the new incentive payment tracks will still require the use of ONC Health IT Certified technology.

So, how do know what your technology will need to be tested and certified to?

Here are a couple important things you need to know with 2017 right around the corner:

  • If your clients (providers) participate in Medicare, they are most likely on the MIPS track and will potentially require your technology (or a combination of technology) be certified to the CEHRT Definition (see the table below). For more information on MIPS, you can check out the Quality Payment Program website.
  • Similar to MIPS, providers participating in the APM track will also need technology certified to the CEHRT Definition. For information on the CEHRT Definition, see here.
  • If you are a vendor that has a smaller scope of system, (i.e., Patient Education, ePrescribing) and not a larger EHR, you may not need to test and certify for the CEHRT Definition. Many systems will only require testing that covers the Base EHR definition or an even smaller scope for testing and certification. We encourage you to reach out to your client base to clearly understand what needs they will have from your technology.

Certified Health IT Module(s) to Support the EHR Incentive Programs Stage 3 and MACRA

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For additional information on MACRA and CMS Reporting Requirements please visit the cms website.

Knowing what 2015 edition criteria you need to test will help you understand where your development effort may need more focus. At SLI Compliance, our goal is to keep our customers updated and informed on requirements to minimize any risk of overdeveloping for new criteria. For more information about how to become an SLI customer and about how we can help you better understand requirements and prepare for certification testing through our pre-testing services, please visit our website.

You can also contact us directly to learn more about current ONC Certification Criteria and how SLI Compliance can help you achieve your goals!