Policy Updates

Part of last year’s replacement for the decades-old “Doc Fix” was a new, complex bill called MACRA that will strongly influence US physician compensation moving forward. The new law consolidates existing reporting requirements, such as various quality measures and Meaningful Use, under MIPS - the Merit-based Incentive Payment System. Reporting for MIPS will cover domains like quality, resource utilization, and advancing care information – and the reporting period actually begins January 1, 2017.

What quality measures should your ED choose to report? Your director and hospital leadership may look to you for answers. It’s not an easy question – and the stakes are high. Reimbursement adjustments (bonuses or penalties) start at 2-4% in 2019, and will rise to +/- 9% by 2022.

Fortunately, ACEP and the Informatics Section have been proactive – teaming up with a vendor (FIGmd) and building CEDR – the Clinical Emergency Data Registry. This registry, in operation since early 2015, is the first specialty-wide national EM registry, encompassing not just visits from CMS patients, but the entire patient population. CEDR now has 57 EDs contributing data. Learn more about CEDR from ACEP Federal Affairs Director, Barbara Tomar. Find out what CEDR can measure, and learn how to get involved, at ACEP’s CEDR page.

Questions will undoubtedly arise when it comes to prepping data for submission, reviewing reports and making decisions on what metrics to include for MIPS. The Informatics Section aims to be a resource for those of us tackling this challenge – please check back soon for more, or reach out via the listserv.