The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) retroactively added two new CPT codes for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine administration to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule files effective for dates of service on and after October 6, 2023.

Did you know?

The typical primary care physician caring for Medicare patients must coordinate care with 229 other physicians working in 117 practices?

The 2024 Final Rule from CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) established a new code to ensure Primary Care Providers receive additional payment for the high-value visits they provide.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) opened data submission for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians who participated in the 2023 performance year of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) on January 2, 2024. Data can be submitted and updated until 8:00 p.m. ET on April 1, 2024.

If you have been affected by extreme and uncontrollable circumstances (rare events entirely outside of your control) you may apply to reweight any or all MIPS performance categories.

The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Value Pathways (MVPs) registration window is open for the 2023 performance year.  Individuals, groups, subgroups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities that wish to report an MCP can register until November 30, 2023 at 8 p.m. ET.  

It is not too early to plan for flu season!

The CDC recommends annual flu shots for everyone 6 months and older each flu season. September and October are the best times for most people to get vaccinated.

Recently, CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) sent letters to people with Medicare who may have been affected by a recent data breach. Approximately 47,000 new cards with new MBI numbers are being mailed to beneficiaries. 

On June 8, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new voluntary primary care payment model for Medicare called Making Care Primary (MCP) that will be tested in eight states, including North Carolina. CMS is offering this model for qualified Medicare providers in North Carolina beginning in July 2024.  Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people age 65 or older, people under age 65 with certain disabilities and people with end-stage renal disease.

We encourage you to subscribe  to the Quality Payment Program Small Practices Newsletter. It is a valuable resource from CMS to help your practice be successful in the Quality Payment Program. This week we bring you selected resources:

"The idea of planning for care through the end of life seems distant and hard to grasp for a lot of us — especially those considered young or without current health conditions. When are we at the end? When we’re diagnosed with cancer? When we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time? “Advance care planning” is similarly vague. In advance of what? Plus, a lot of us assume a doctor or medical team is responsible for planning our care." Aly Lynch, 3/1/2023