Highlights
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the Calendar Year (CY) 2021 Final Rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), which contains updates to the Quality Payment Program (QPP). The MPFS dictates Medicare rates and policies under Part B, while the QPP implements two value-based payment programs: the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APMs).
Among notable changes, CMS has proposed to make permanent certain telehealth changes that have been implemented in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), confirmed the evaluation and management (E/M) documentation guidelines and payment changes finalized in the 2020 MPFS, and delayed the MIPS Value Pathway (MVP) until the 2022 performance period or later.