Starting 2021, CMS established the APM Performance Pathway (APP) in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The APP is available to clinicians who participate in MIPS APMs, including Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Clinicians that report the APP receive a MIPS score based on Quality, Improvement Activity, and Promoting Interoperability performance categories.
The APP includes a pre-defined set of six Quality measures, and three of those measures must be reported directly to CMS via either Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) or MIPS CQMs. This is a significant change for ACOs because they have historically relied on the CMS Web Interface for reporting Quality measures but that option will no longer be available starting 2022.
Clinicians that report the APP must decide whether to use eCQM or MIPS CQM reporting as soon as possible. Implementing a new reporting method can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, requiring clinicians to work closely with a third-party vendor such as an EHR for eCQM reporting, or a Qualified Registry for MIPS CQM reporting. One important factor in selecting eCQM or MIPS CQM reporting is how clinicians will score based on benchmarks. Use this tool to estimate how many points your Quality measure performance may earn under each option.