Be sure to add these important dates to your calendar for:
- Quality reporting programs
- EHR Incentive programs
- 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
- 2016 is a full reporting year for all returning meaningful users
- Modified Stage 2 objectives apply to all providers, regardless of previous stage
- This is the final year to begin qualifying for incentives under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program by filing for AIU
- Other deadlines apply to PQRS, CPCi, ACO and other programs.
For more information, see CMS MU 2016 Program Requirements and CMS PQRS homepage
2016: Dates and Deadlines you need to know
(Past but still relevant)
- Effective January 1, 2016 ― (Friday)
- PQRS 2015 submission period begins
- First day of the full year 2016 reporting period.
- In addition to having certified EHR, you must have enabled secure messaging
- January 4, 2016 (Monday)
- Go-live date for the updated CMS MU attestation site
- Accordingly, the first day for 2015 MU attestations
- January 26, 2016 ―(Tuesday)
- ACO MSSP reporting submission period begins
- February 29, 2016 ―(Monday)
- Deadline extended to March 11 to submit your 2015 MU attestations
- Deadline to achieve “active engagement” with at least two public health agencies or specialized registries.
- Deadline for CPCi reporting
- March 11, 2016 (Friday)
- Extended deadline for MU 2015 attestation
- March 20, 2016 ―(Sunday)
- ACO MSSP reporting submission deadline
- March 31, 2016 ―(Thursday)
- Last day to submit 2015 PQRS measures
- April 1, 2016 ―(Friday)― June 30, 2016 ―(Thursday)
- GPRO registration period for 2016 PQRS
- July 1, 2016 (Friday)
- New deadline (changed from March 15) for 2017 Hardship Exception applications (to avoid 2017 Medicare payment adjustment based on MU performance in 2015)
- December 31, 2016―(Saturday)
- Last day to submit AIU under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program (state deadlines may vary, check with your state Medicaid agency!)
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS)
(These may impact your organization)
Effective January 1, 2016
- A 3% Medicare reimbursement cut (the SGR repeal or MACRA law’s 0.5% increase is offset by a 0.79% decrease stemming from other legislation, (for a net -0.3% across all services)
- Potential 10% penalty in 2018 for failing to meet MU, PQRS and value-based modifier obligations in 2016
- Extension of chronic care management (CCM) to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics (RHCs) which meet the CMS requirements first outlined in the 2015 MPFS
- New codes for advanced care/end-of-life planning
For more information on the 2016 MPFS updates and other Health Reform topics, follow our Health Reform Simplified webinar calendar available on our Success Community Portal, (formerly NextGen Healthcare Knowledge Exchange.)
Questions? Contact Andy Riedel