ACG Working with Congress on E/M Proposal: Thank you, ACG Members!

From ACG Legislative and Public Policy Council Chair, Whitfield L. Knapple, MD, FACG

ACG Working with Congress on E/M Proposal: Thank you, ACG Members!

Thank you ACG members for your advocacy! As mentioned in a recent alert, in July, Medicare proposed major changes to documentation and payment for Evaluation and Management (E/M) services. The proposal, aimed at reducing documentation requirements, resulted in a single-blended payment rate for level 2 through 5 office visits for new and established patients. This reduces reimbursement for level 3-5 office visits. ACG and GI societies are actively involved in opposing this change. ACG is also working with like-minded organizations in getting Congress involved.

Over the past two weeks, ACG urged members to reach out to your Members of Congress and request that they sign onto House and Senate letters to CMS, urging the agency to rethink this proposal. Your efforts are working.

The U.S. House Letter: 90 members of the U.S. House of Representative signed the letter to CMS opposing this E/M change. Please read the letter here.

The U.S. Senate Letter: 24 members of the U.S. Senate signed the letter to CMS. Please read the letter here.

Thank you all for your efforts! CMS is scheduled to announce in November if this proposed will be finalized beginning CY 2019.

FDA Pediatric IBD Workshop: Register to Attend November Event

ACG and other like-minded organizations are working in collaboration with the FDA on a Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Workshop. This event will take place on Friday, November 16, 2018, from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The event is located at FDA’s White Oak Campus, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Building #31 – Room 1503A; Silver Spring, MD 20903. Remote participation is available.

This workshop is open to the public with no cost to attend, but registration is still required. Clinicians, investigators, patients and parents of patients, device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations and regulators are encouraged to attend.

Goals and Objectives:

  • The aim of the workshop will be to discuss current barriers to expeditious pediatric IBD drug development and steps to overcome them.
  • Specific topics will include a review of the legislation relevant to pediatric trials, extrapolation, trial design considerations, dose selection and the level of evidence required to establish safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients with IBD.

Register for the ACG 2018 Practice Management Course! Pre-registration closes on Friday, September 28th!

Join us at the ACG 2018 Practice Management Course to learn from colleagues about new and innovative ways to improve operations, enhance productivity, and guarantee success in your practice.

Sincerely,

Ralph D. McKibbin, MD, FACG
Jay N. Yepuri, MD, MS

Course Directors
Members, ACG Practice Management Committee

MACRA Tidbit for the Week: CMS finds errors in MIPS scores—Check your feedback reports

CMS recently announced that ACG members should access their MIPS/APM feedback reports by signing into the Quality Payment Program website. The reports provide an overview of your MIPS final score, performance category details, and 2019 MIPS payment adjustment (reimbursement bonus or cut based upon your quality reporting in CY 2017).

Along with releasing performance feedback, CMS announced that the agency has launched a process known as “targeted review.” A “targeted review” provides the opportunity for clinicians, groups, or those participating in certain APMs to request that CMS review your MIPS payment adjustment, if you believe there is an error with your 2019 MIPS payment adjustment calculation.

Why is it important that you review this feedback report? CMS may have changed your score since your last review. According to CMS, “based on these requests, we reviewed the concerns, identified a few errors in the scoring logic, and implemented solutions.” This resulted in some changes to the 2017 MIPS final score and associated 2019 MIPS payment adjustments. These revisions were made to the performance feedback reports on September 13, 2018.

Thus, ACG encourages members to sign-in to the Quality Payment Program website to review your performance feedback. If you believe an error exists with your 2019 MIPS payment adjustment calculation, this “targeted review” process is available for you.

CMS is extending the “targeted review” deadline to October 15, 2018 at 8:00pm (EDT).

Learn more about “targeted review” here.

Sign into your Quality Payment Program (MIPS or APM) account here.

CMS Contact Information: The Quality Payment Program Service Center phone number is 1-866-288-8292, (TTY) 1-877-7156222. You can also use email at QPP@cms.hhs.gov.

ACG is here to help too. Contact the ACG office at info@gi.org.