2022 MIPS Feedback Now Available and Targeted Review Period Open

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance feedback and final scores for the 2022 performance year. This determines whether a physician will receive a positive, neutral, or negative payment adjustment on Medicare services furnished in 2024. Physicians can view this information on the Quality Payment Program (QPP) website using their HCQIS Access Role and Profile (HARP) credentials. For help registering for a HARP account, access the QPP Access User Guide. CMS has also released several resources for more information, including:  

• 2022 MIPS Performance Feedback FAQs – Highlights what performance feedback is, who receives it, and how to access it on the QPP website.
• 2022 MIPS Performance Feedback Patient-Level Data Reports Supplement – Reviews the data included and answers questions about the downloadable patient-level reports included in performance feedback.
• 2024 MIPS Payment Year Payment Adjustment User Guide – Reviews information about the calculation and application of MIPS payment adjustments and answers frequently asked questions.

In response to AMA advocacy, CMS implemented flexibilities to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, including allowing MIPS-eligible clinicians, groups, and APM Entities to request an Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances (EUC) hardship exception due to COVID-19 to avoid a MIPS penalty or to reweigh any of the MIPS categories that were impacted by the pandemic.

If a physician believes there was an error in calculating the MIPS final score, he or she should request an appeal, which CMS calls a targeted review, by October 9, 2023. Examples of previous targeted review circumstances include the following:

• Data were submitted under the wrong Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) or National Provider Identifier (NPI).
• Eligibility or special status issues (e.g., a physician has Qualifying APM Participant status and shouldn’t receive a payment adjustment).
• Performance categories weren’t automatically reweighed even though a physician qualified for reweighing due to EUC.

CMS generally requires documentation to support a targeted review request, which varies by circumstance. A CMS representative will contact physicians and practices about providing any specific documentation required. If the targeted review request is approved and results in a scoring change, CMS will update the final score and associated payment adjustment (if applicable). Please note that targeted review decisions are final and not eligible for further review. For more information about how to request a targeted review, please refer to the 2022 Targeted Review User Guide.