This content was excerpted from EyeNet’s MIPS 2019; also see the Academy’s MIPS hub page.
Use this to-do list to make sure that you are using all the key MIPS resources from the Academy, the American Academy of Ophthalmic Executives (AAOE), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
1. Bookmark aao.org/medicare. From this hub page, you can navigate to a rich range of ophthalmic-specific resources, including:
2. Make the IRIS Registry your one-stop shop for MIPS reporting. The IRIS Registry is a unique MIPS reporting mechanism: It is free for Academy members, it focuses exclusively on ophthalmology, and it offers subspecialty-specific QCDR quality measures.
IRIS Registry–EHR integration minimizes the reporting burden. If you integrate your electronic health record (EHR) system with the IRIS Registry, you can use an automated process to extract the data that are needed for reporting the quality performance category. After the performance year is over, the IRIS Registry will submit all applicable quality measures for which you have sufficient data. Promoting interoperability measures and improvement activities can only be reported manually.
No EHR? If you don’t have an EHR system, you can report MIPS quality measures and the subspecialty-specific QCDR quality measures manually via the IRIS Registry.
IRIS Registry staff monitor changes to the MIPS regulations. Physician payment regulations are constantly in flux. When there are changes to MIPS, IRIS Registry staff—working closely with the AAOE’s coding specialists and with regulatory experts at the Academy’s D.C. office—determine how those changes specifically impact ophthalmology, and they update the IRIS Registry accordingly.
Make sure you are signed up for the IRIS Registry. If you aren’t already participating in the IRIS Registry, there is a June 1 deadline for signing up for IRIS Registry–EHR integration; if you are only interested in manual reporting via the IRIS Registry, you have until Oct. 31 to register for that. (Note: If you sign up for IRIS Registry–EHR integration, you don’t have to sign up separately for the manual reporting.)
3. Check your email. To learn about the latest MIPS developmetns, watch for Washington Report Express (Thursdays), Medicare Physician Payment Update (first Saturday of each month), and—if you are in the AAOE—Practice Management Express (Sundays).
4. Use the email hotline. Questions about MIPS can be sent to mips@aao.org; questions about IRIS Registry functionality, can be sent to irisregistry@aao.org. Update (June 2019): CMS has announced its first-ever MIPS audits. This summer, you may receive—either by email or certified mail—a request for information from the 2017 or 2018 MIPS performance years. Guidehouse, a CMS contractor, is conducting data validation and audits on a sample of MIPS eligible clinicians. If you receive such a request, please contact the Academy at mips@aao.org.
5. Share tips and crowdsource solutions via the AAOE’s e-Talk. If you are a member of the AAOE, use the e-Talk listserv to find out how other practices are tackling MIPS. Not an AAOE member? Join at aao.org/member-services/join.
6. Schedule yourself some time for a MIPS event at AAO 2019. If you are attending AAO2019 in San Francisco (Oct. 12-15), sit in on this year’s MIPS sessions. You also can bring your MIPS questions to the Academy Resource Center, where you can also ask for an IRIS Registry demo.
7. Find out when Codequest is coming to your state. Codequest 2019 features tips and guidance on MIPS. See the schedule at aao.org/codequest.
8. Bookmark aao.org/eyenet/mips-manual-2019. It features a timeline of key dates and at-a-glance lists that link to the Academy's detailed web pages:
Table 7 links to 42 quality measures that can be reported via IRIS Registry–EHR integration.
Table 8 links to 57 quality measures that can be reported manually via the IRIS Registry.
Table 9 links to 16 quality measures that can be reported via Medicare Part B claims.
Note: Tables 7-9 flag any quality measures that are subject to scoring limitations.
Table 10 links to the promoting interoperability measures.
Table 13 links to the 34 improvement activities that can be reported via the IRIS Registry.
9. See how CMS can help. If you are in a small practice, you can request some free assistance from CMS; to learn more, visit https://qpp.cms.gov/about/small-underserved-rural-practices.
Next: Succeeding at MIPS
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All of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)–developed quality measures are copyrighted by the AAO’s H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, Center for Quality Eye Care (see terms of use).