Key Changes Coming to Medicare Payment Model

As part of a federal effort to streamline regulations and improve healthcare value and quality, the Medicare payment model will undergo significant change beginning Jan. 1.

Under the new rules, eligible clinicians must participate in one of two payment tracks. More than 85 percent of physicians will work with the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), while the remainder will use the Advanced Alternative Payment Model.

Under MIPS, physicians will still be required to comply with many of the provisions of Meaningful Use, a 5-year-old federal program designed to enhance health outcomes and to encourage the adoption of electronic health records. The federal program's next phase is known as Advancing Care Information, which will score physicians on a revamped set of measures. Physicians who do not participate could face penalties.

For more information, see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website.