CMS is giving you another glimpse into the continually evolving value-based payment modifier, an Affordable Care Act provision that will alter reimbursement based on the quality and cost of care you provide to patients.
Physicians in four states have already received a report detailing both the quality of care they delivered to individual Medicare fee-for-service patients in 2010 and the amount Medicare paid them for that care. The 20,000 physicians in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska will not see payment adjustments based on this report, since it is for informational purposes only.
The initiative, formally called the Physician Value-based Payment Modifier, is set to roll out for select physicians in 2015 and all physicians by 2017.
As reported by Kaiser Health News, CMS is continuing to formulate the payment adjustment details including exactly how physicians will be measured. However, you’d be wise to pay close attention to the value-based modifier right now, since the 2015 bonuses and penalties will be based on your performance in 2013.