06/28/2018    Joseph Borreggine, DPM

MIPS Qualifications

Yesterday, my EHR vendor contacted me and stated
that I was no longer eligible to participate in
MIPS since I did not meet the minimum Medicare
annual charge qualification which is now $90,000
instead of $30,000 for an individual physician.

This information was obtained by CMS concurring
with Medicare and Railroad Medicare actual
collected revenues based on my individual NPI
number for my practice from Sept 1, 2016 to
August 31, 2017. Any Medicare provider can
research and see this same type data on the CMS
MPP website.

Last year, I successfully scored 90/100 for 2017
for MIPS participation. I believe that I will
receive a incentive for doing so. But, I believe
this will be the last time that I will receive
the said bonus.

In the past, I was always reaching the required
goals and metrics above and beyond and was
summarily rewarded for doing so with all
incentives available with MU and PQRS, but alas
from here on out there is no need to be so due
diligent.

All the time educating myself all these years,
the tens of thousands of dollars spent obtaining
the necessary EHR, and the hours spent
implementing the software to obtain the necessary
data to meet the required guidelines; now is just
a complete waste.

So, after all the time and money spent since I
had proficiently participated with meaningful and
its stages and now MIPS will be no longer. Was
all that I have done all for naught? What was the
point if eventually penalties instead of
incentives are the norm?

I only work 3 days a week in my office and work
the other 2 with a company that provides foot
care at nursing homes. I did find that I met the
MIPS qualification as a physician with the
aforementioned company.

Even though I will be exempt from any penalties
this year as an individual practitioner, what
will happen in the following years? Will a
penalty be assessed in the future?

So, if this is the case with physicians like
myself, then what is the point of this program if
a tremendous number of individual physicians will
no longer be able to qualify for MIPS base on the
minimum revenue collection qualification.

How will this affect of collecting the necessary
data that CMS is longing to obtain if there is
continual restrictions from preventing doctors
from participating? Is this a good thing moving
forward for MIPS future?

The MIPS program and it’s predecessors
have become nothing but a joke and a exercise in
futility that has produced much activity and very
little accomplishment.

Unfortunately, I would say that this typical
modus operandi when it comes to any government
run bureaucracy that has no direction or goal in
mind.

Joseph Borreggine, DPM, Charleston, IL

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