CMS To Align Physician Quality Reporting System Program With Value-Based Purchasing

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is planning to align its Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) program with Medicare value-based purchasing initiatives. The aligned programs will be the foundation for a new Medicare modified fee-for-service (FFS) Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and a new alternative payment model (APM). The MIPS and APM were established on April 16, 2015 by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (House Resolution 2) to replace the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for physician payments. In addition to aligning the programs’ reporting requirements, CMS intends to align . . .