In my last column, I tried to explain the complicated math involved in calculating the potential financial impact of MACRA/MIPS on urgent care centers. I made the case for a significant return on investment for a typical urgent care with a typical mix of Medicare patients. Of course, all of the potential return depends on implementation of practical and efficient quality improvement programs that meet the measurement and reporting expectations outlined by the Centers for …
Read MoreDo the MACRA’ena?
Corny titles aside, MACRA/MIPS is creating a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety among physician practices, and urgent care centers are no exception. I have seen a lot of urgent care news sources, including this journal, referencing the latest updates from CMS (or recent articles published by other organizations), but urgent care-specific analysis is in short supply. I frequently hear colleagues say, “Medicare is such a small percent of my business, it’s just not worth …
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UCA Files Comments on Medicare QPP
The Urgent Care Association vowed to represent the industry’s interests when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final rule implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) last October. In effect, CMS imposed guidelines for clinicians participating in Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP), and defined two possible pathways: the Merit-Based Payment Incentive Program (MIPS) or the Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). UCA made good on its promise this week by …
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Most Doctors Say They’re Not Prepared for MACRA
We told you recently that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services lowered the threshold for physicians to be exempt from MACRA’s reporting requirements in 2018. It’s a good thing, too: 75% of physicians involved in practice decision-making say they do not feel well prepared to participate in MACRA’s Quality Payment Program (QPP). The data were just released by the American Medical Association and KPMG. The QPP pushes eligible providers to choose between the Advanced Alternative …
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Attention Small Urgent Care Operators: CMS May Lower Threshold for MACRA Exemptions
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has broadened the definition of “small providers” as it applies to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, to the extent that physician practices with less than $90,000 in Medicare revenue or fewer than 200 unique Medicare patients per year would be exempt from having to comply with MACRA. Between this new standard and the one proposed for next year, the move will exclude roughly 834,000 more …
Read MoreNavigating Around Legislative Obstacles and Proving Value in 2017
Urgent care in a shifting healthcare delivery environment brings to mind Shel Silverstein’s children’s classic, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. In that tale, the missing piece stands alone, waiting for someone to come along and take it somewhere. Various shapes come by, but none are quite right. Some could not roll. Some had too many missing pieces. Finally, a shape comes along that fits just right and they roll along until the missing …
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