News: CMS documentation guidelines crucial for success under inaugural year of MIPS

Take a close look at the documentation guidelines that CMS suggests for the practice improvement portion of the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) and you may ward off future audits and avoid forfeiting revenue, according to the Physician Practice Insider.

For the 2017 reporting year, MIPS-eligible providers are required to attest—in a simple “yes/no” format—to as many as four improvement activities, formerly known as clinical practice improvement activities (CPIAs), to receive the most available points under this slice of MIPS, which makes up 15% of a provider’s total quality-reporting score.

While the attestation may demand only a brief response, the required documentation serving as proof of your work comes with more strings attached. Because of this, you should hew closely to CMS recommendations.

“It is absolutely critical that groups begin to create good habits that will set them up for long-term success,” advises Brandon Richardson, lead MIPS consultant with Medical Information Software Technology (MIST) in Post Falls, Idaho.

Similar to meaningful use reporting, providers may face an audit in future years related to their improvement-activity attestation, and the quality of your documentation will be the only thing standing between keeping your MIPS bonus money or having to return it to the feds. Let that thought guide your actions this year, suggests Richardson.

“Document with the assumption that you will be audited,” he says.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Physician Practice Insider. You can find the documentation standards on the Quality Payment Program website, here. Download the “MIPS Data Validation Criteria” file. In that folder, you’ll find a spreadsheet and PDF of the suggested guidelines.