Under MACRA, physicians can participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System or the Alternative Payment Models. MIPS consists of a weighted score of quality, resource use, meaningful use and practice improvement scores.
Physicians have the opportunity to receive financial bonuses if they obtain good quality outcomes. However, many may face penalties if they fail to meet CMS’ requirements.
Nitin Damle, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians, provided six strategies for physicians’ success under MIPS, according to Medical Economics.
1. Increase your patient access. Have same-day appointments available, and consider having staff available during the evenings and weekends to ensure you can see as many patients as possible.
2. Tell patients their value. Survey your patients and form a patient council so patients can understand how important they are to your practice. Make patients a member of your organization’s team.
3. Empower your staff. Work closely with all members of your staff and make them feel empowered to make changes and recommendations to improve operational efficiency.
4. Make the most of your practice’s resources. Practices can do this through ancillary services, such as in-house labs, stress testing and bone density scans.
5. Hire a clinical nurse manager. A clinical nurse manager can maintain patient registries, stay on top of deadlines and contact sick patients to keep them out of the emergency room or hospital.
6. Consider scribes. Scribes can decrease how much time a physician spends entering information into EHRs.
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