MACRA Survival Guide

On Jan 1st, 2017, a new law to track physician performance went into first gear. It’s called MACRA.

MACRA is short for Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which was signed into law in April 2015. It’s an attempt to give carrots and sticks to clinicians. Payments or penalties based on quality of care.

MACRA’s intent is to pay clinicians based on outcomes. Have them compete with each other by issuing penalties for one half and incentives for the other.

MACRA measures are converted to a point-based system. Using
points, doctors are compared to other doctors. A score is derived
based on what they could’ve done vs what they did. That finally
determines how much someone makes.

The objective of this handbook is to help you understand MACRA and
provide clarity on the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).