WoundExpert Flash #13

{Straight talk for clients}

The final CMS MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015) rule was released recently and defines a new value-based reimbursement system called the Quality Payment Program. WoundExpert is ready and will support the MIPS (Merit-based Incentive Payment System) track of MACRA in 2017.  

December 2016

Dear WoundExpert,

With MACRA, MIPS, PQRS, and more I feel like I’m swimming in alphabet soup. Can you boil down what I need to know about MACRA and MIPS when it comes to WoundExpert?

The Solution

The MIPS track of MACRA seeks to combine and streamline existing compliance programs with a goal of easing clinical burden while promoting quality care. The MIPS track is comprised of four categories which will be combined to determine your score as a provider and ultimately earn you a positive, neutral, or negative payment adjustment from CMS. Existing programs like Meaningful Use, now referred to as “Advancing Care Information” and PQRS, now “Quality,” represent two of the categories as they shift from standalone initiatives into components of the MIPS program. The remaining two components of the program are “Improvement Activities,” a new category that rewards clinicians for care focused on care coordination, beneficiary engagement, and patient safety, and “Cost,” which replaces the Value-Based Modifier. To learn more about the components of MIPS, click here.

Source: https://qpp.cms.gov/learn/qpp 

For 2017, CMS has instituted a “Pick Your Pace” model for participation, meaning that as a provider you can avoid a negative payment adjustment by choosing to report for as little as 90 consecutive days in 2017 or up to a full year. The more you participate in 2017, the more positive your payment adjustment may be. Payment adjustments based on 2017 reporting will be effective in 2019.

Source: https://qpp.cms.gov/

As a specialized wound care EHR, WoundExpert has your documentation needs covered and should you wish to begin documenting for MIPS on January 1^st, 2017, we are ready! Thanks to the fact that WoundExpert is a certified EHR, both the Advancing Care Information and Quality measures can be tracked in WoundExpert and reported to CMS. Cost and Improvement Activities can both be tracked outside of an EHR.

Call to Action

For more information on MIPS directly from CMS, click here.

For more information on how WoundExpert will help you navigate this changing reimbursement model, view the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA)” topic in the How-To Documentation for more information.

WoundExpert Experts

This month’s contributor was Sheila Cougras, RN, BSN, CWCN, Director of Product Compliance

Connections Corner

WoundExpert wants to save you time. One way we do this is through the Net Health Connections Program, which makes ordering supplies for clinical care fast, easy, and accurate by replacing paper order forms and fax machines with electronic connections to a facility’s preferred vendors.

Here are the latest, free updates to our Connections modules:

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) Vendors:

• Medela: Family Medical Supply and Van’s Medical Equipment

Pneumatic Compression Vendors:

• MDS Medical Device Specialty Inc.

Wound Product Supplier (WPS) Vendors:

• Donahue Specialty Medical
• Coming Soon: Community Medical

The Connections modules can be automatically enabled within WoundExpert. Please contact WoundExpert Customer Support at feedback@nethealth.com if you have any questions.

Brought to you by Matt DeFusco, WoundExpert Product Owner

Did you know?

Each month this section features a favorite quick tip from a team member. 

The WoundExpert User Manual has been re-organized and is now searchable to help you find what you want to know much more quickly!

By hovering over your name in the upper right corner of WoundExpert powered by xfit you can select “How-To Documentation” to launch our new online User Manual.

The left panel lists out a Table of Contents for you to browse topics. If you can’t find what you want in the Table of Contents, you can search for exactly what you want to know by using the search box in the upper right corner. Click on the “Release Notes” topic to see a summary of enhancements from recent releases.

Please contact WoundExpert Client Services at feedback@nethealth.com if you have any questions.

Brought to you by John Gordon, Technical Writer