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McKesson’s total solution streamlines MIPS reporting and provides access to custom quality measures, optimizing MIPS performance for community-based oncology practices
The Woodlands, Texas (January 26, 2018) — McKesson Specialty Health has received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2018 program year as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR). This is the second consecutive year the company has earned QCDR designation. As a CMS-approved QCDR, McKesson can collect and report clinical data on behalf of clinicians through its industry-leading oncology-specific electronic health record (EHR), iKnowMed℠, for both MIPS and custom non-MIPS quality measures to drive improvements in quality and cost of cancer care. The designation enables iKnowMed users to efficiently submit data directly to CMS without engaging a separate registry vendor, streamlining data submission and minimizing the need for additional administrative resources. Additionally, iKnowMed was recently ONC-ACB 2015 Edition Certified, which means the EHR is “Advancing Care Information-ready” to support practices participating in value-based care, making providers using iKnowMed eligible for 10 MIPS bonus points by using the 2015 Edition exclusively.
For the 2018 reporting year, McKesson’s QCDR will be able to support all three critical MIPS practice-reported categories: Quality, Advancing Care Information and Improvement Activities. iKnowMed users will also have access to several custom QCDR measures identified by physician leaders in The US Oncology Network and endorsed by the organization’s Steering Committee, all of whom have deep insight into value-based care and community oncology clinical and business operations. These customized measures may be more appropriate for some practices than other MIPS measures, helping them maximize their MIPS scores. Since the MIPS cost category is calculated based on CMS claims data, there is nothing more for practices to report.
“Data reporting of quality measures is a major challenge for many of the community oncology practices we serve,” said Erin Crum, director of Quality Reporting, McKesson Specialty Health. “QCDR designation enables practices using iKnowMed to efficiently report their MIPS quality measures simply by utilizing the data already captured in iKnowMed, streamlining this complex process and easing the administrative burden of reporting. Our ability to create and support additional non-MIPS measures is an added bonus for practices, as it gives physicians the opportunity to report on measures they feel are clinically relevant to the way they practice medicine.”
With McKesson as a QCDR, iKnowMed users gain a wealth of benefits to help them optimize MIPS performance, including:
“Helping community oncology practices thrive in the evolving value-based care environment is a top priority for us,” said Marcus Neubauer, MD, vice president and medical director, Payer and Clinical Services, McKesson Specialty Health. “While MIPS presents significant challenges for practices, our expertise with alternative payment models has enabled us to develop many innovative solutions that empower practices to succeed with MIPS and other value-based initiatives.”McKesson Specialty Health, a division of McKesson Corporation, works together with stakeholders across the healthcare delivery system to preserve and strengthen specialty care, passionately driven by the benefits it provides patients and the system as a whole. Through innovative provider, practice management, biopharma and payer solutions, McKesson Specialty Health focuses on improving the financial, operational and business health of our customers and partners so they may provide the best care to patients. At McKesson Specialty Health, we believe that we are all in this together. For more information, visit www.mckessonspecialtyhealth.com.
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Claire Crye
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