MIPS 2024 requirements: What your medical practice needs to know
The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reimburses physicians to do exactly what they were trained to do: Keep patients healthy and add value to their lives. By tying healthcare payment to quality and cost-efficient care, the goal of MIPS is to drive improvement in care processes and health outcomes, increase the use of healthcare information, and reduce the overall cost of healthcare.
In 2024, there are three MIPS reporting options available to eligible clinicians (i.e., traditional MIPS, alternative payment model performance pathway, and MIPS value pathway). However, in this article, we’ll focus on MIPS 2024 requirements for traditional MIPS.
Not sure whether you need to participate in MIPS? Chances are likely you do—unless you qualify for an exception. Use this tool to determine your MIPS eligibility.
2024 MIPS measures and payments
The 2024 MIPS performance year began on January 1. When does it officially end? It depends on the specific MIPS category (i.e., quality and cost, promoting interoperability, and practice improvement activities). For quality and cost, the performance year ends on December 31, but for promoting interoperability, it ends after 180 consecutive days. For practice improvement activities, the end date depends on the specific healthcare improvement activities you select.
However, remember that all this data doesn’t impact your healthcare payments until 2026. Similarly, current-day payments (i.e., in 2024) are based on your data from MIPS performance year 2022. The specific impact on your 2026 healthcare payments depends on your 2024 final MIPS score.
In 2024, 30% of the final MIPS score is based on the clinical quality of the healthcare services you provide. To depict that quality, you can choose from 201 different measures. The 2024 MIPS measures list of clinical quality measures includes advance care planning, breast cancer screening, controlling high blood pressure, and more.
Twenty-five percent of your final MIPS score is based on promoting interoperability, and you can choose from 38 different measures to convey how you do this. The 2024 MIPS measures list of promoting interoperability measures includes clinical data registry reporting through the electronic health record (EHR), e-prescribing, providing patients access to their health information in the EHR, and more.
Fifteen percent of your final MIPS score is based on practice improvement activities, and you can choose from 106 different measures to demonstrate these activities. The 2024 MIPS measures list of practice improvement activities includes anticoagulation management improvements, care transition documentation practice improvements, completion of collaborative care management training program, and more.
Finally, 30% of your final MIPS score is based on cost.
For a final MIPS score of 0.0-18.75, you’ll see a negative MIPS payment adjustment of -9%. For a score of 18.76-74.99, there will be a negative MIPS payment adjustment between -9% and 0% based on a linear sliding scale. For a score of 75.0, there is a 0% adjustment. And for a score of 75.01-100, you’ll see a positive MIPS payment adjustment greater than 0%.
MIPS for small medical practices
Small medical practices (i.e., practices with 15 or fewer clinicians) should keep the following points in mind when thinking about MIPS 2024 requirements:
You must report six MIPS 2024 quality measures.
You’ll receive three points for submitting MIPS 2024 quality measures without an available benchmark as well as quality measures that don’t meet the case minimum or data completeness requirements.
You’ll earn six bonus points for submitting at least one MIPS 2024 quality measure.
You’ll receive twice the score for each practice improvement activity.
You’re not required to report healthcare data for promoting interoperability.
How to succeed with 2024 MIPS measures
To maximize your final MIPS score—and ensure you receive the healthcare payment you deserve—be sure to focus on clinical documentation improvement. Ensure you provide accurate and complete documentation to support MIPS data. Work with your certified medical coders to audit coded data and identify opportunities for a higher final MIPS score.
In addition, it’s important to use the right MIPS reporting tools to help you make informed decisions about 2024 MIPS quality measures most applicable to your medical practice, predict potential penalties or incentive payments, identify low-performing measures so you can take proactive steps to improve them, manage MIPS submissions, track submission progress, and more. Learn how edgeMED can help and be sure to check the Healthy Snacks blog for more expert insights, best practices and industry trends.
