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Medicare will reward physicians who complete 'quality improvement' CME as part of MIPS, the new value-based payment system.
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What is Quality Improvement CME?
The CME Coalition has championed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for recognizing Quality Improvement continuing medical education (QI-CME) as an 'Improvement Activity' under the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) — a physician reimbursement system which is part of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) created by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).
Under MACRA, physicians who do not participate in a qualifying alternative payment models (APM) will be subject to adjustments in their reimbursement under MIPS. MIPS is based on a 100-point score, with Improvement Activities representing 15 percent of the score. The CME Coalition and other stakeholders have long advocated that CME should be included in the Improvement Activity measurement category, as these courses are among the most important ways in which doctors seek to improve their understanding of new treatments and therapies, improve beneficiary outcomes, and ultimately, improve their practice as a whole.
Accredited CME providers can support their clinician learners in several ways: you can help clinicians understand how to identify Improvement Activities, facilitate those activities, and then assist clinicians in attesting to their participation; and you can plan and present CME activities that will count as Improvement Activities. Accredited CME providers can use The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) to indicate that a CME activity meets the requirements of a MIPS Improvement Activity. Activities in PARS that are flagged as MIPS activities will then be displayed in CME Finder.
Under MACRA, physicians who do not participate in a qualifying alternative payment models (APM) will be subject to adjustments in their reimbursement under MIPS. MIPS is based on a 100-point score, with Improvement Activities representing 15 percent of the score. The CME Coalition and other stakeholders have long advocated that CME should be included in the Improvement Activity measurement category, as these courses are among the most important ways in which doctors seek to improve their understanding of new treatments and therapies, improve beneficiary outcomes, and ultimately, improve their practice as a whole.
Accredited CME providers can support their clinician learners in several ways: you can help clinicians understand how to identify Improvement Activities, facilitate those activities, and then assist clinicians in attesting to their participation; and you can plan and present CME activities that will count as Improvement Activities. Accredited CME providers can use The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) to indicate that a CME activity meets the requirements of a MIPS Improvement Activity. Activities in PARS that are flagged as MIPS activities will then be displayed in CME Finder.
Official Logo and Descriptive Language
In coordination with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the CME Coalition has developed a logo and official descriptive language identifying accredited CME activities that meet the standards of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the purpose of providing provider credit under the Merit-based Incentive Payment Program (MIPS). The CME Coalition encourages CME provider organizations to utilize this logo and language to signify all activities that meet the CMS MIPS requirements.
Completion of this accredited CME activity meets the expectations of an Accredited Safety or Quality Improvement Program (IA_PSPA_28) for the Merit-based Incentive Payment Program (MIPS)
Key ResourcesThe following resources are available to those interested in additional information about QI-CME: |
QI-CME CriteriaTo meet the criteria for Improvement Activities in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) of QPP, accredited CME providers need to implement activities that:
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A Primer on QI-CMEIn a recent session at CMEpalooza, the CME Coalition's Andrew Rosenberg and Tom Sullivan share their their insights and provide practical guidance on how to design and allow physicians to get credit from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for certain CME activities.
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ACCME's Step-by-Step Guide to Implementation
QI-CME offers an opportunity for providers to demonstrate the value of CME in promoting clinician engagement in efforts to improve performance, quality, and safety. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) has created a step-by-step guide to assist you and your learners with this opportunity.
