ACO Quality

News and Advocacy

• CMS releases proposed 2021 Physician Fee Schedule rule including major quality changes for ACOs
• More detail available in this factsheet along with detailed QPP changes
• NAACOS-issued press release on the proposed rule
  
  
• CMS posts quality measure specifications and benchmarks for 2020/2021 available here
  
  
• CMS posts updated 2019 quality benchmarks available here (ACO-14, ACO-17 and ACO-18 retroactively made pay-for-reporting in 2019)
  
  
• As a result of NAACOS advocacy, CMS has extended the ACO quality reporting deadline and MIPS reporting deadline to April 30, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more in our COVID-19 fact sheet.
  
  
• CMS Releases Final 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule and fact sheet, including final quality measure set for ACOs: see Table 40 on p. 1086-1087
  
  
• NAACOS submits comments in response to proposed 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule to urge CMS to maintain current MSSP ACO quality scoring approach
  
  
• NAACOS Advocacy Results in Changes to ACO-17 Scoring
  
  
• NAACOS urges CMS to make changes to scoring of ACO-17 (smoking cessation) quality measure for 2018
  
  
• 2017 Quality Payment Program Reporting Experience Posted by CMS shows high quality for ACOs
  
  
• NAACOS Submits Comments on CQMC Measure Prioritization Approaches
  
  
• NAACOS submits letter to NQF on draft attribution report
  
  
• OIG Report Highlights Excellent ACO Quality Performance
  
  
• ASPE releases report to Congress on social risk factors & value based programs, addressing ACOs specifically in Chapter 9 (page 222) 
  

NAACOS Resources

• NAACOS ACO Quality Reporting Guide 
  
  
• NAACOS analysis of the final 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule which includes discussions of several key quality scoring and reporting changes for 2020
  
  
• New in 2019- Annual ACO CEHRT Attestation Requirement
  
  
• NAACOS analysis of the final 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule including changes to the 2019 ACO quality measure set
  
  
• NAACOS Summary of the Final 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule including ACO quality changes
  
  
• NAACOS Resource on Preparing for a Quality Measures Validation Audit 
   

CMS Resources

• CMS Posts 2020 Quality Measure Information Forms for ACOs (under ‘Quality Measures and Reporting Specifications’)
   
• CMS example of 2018 MIPS quality scoring for ACOs 

Public Use Files

• The CMS Public Use File contains ACO quality performance and is updated on an annual basis 

To read more about developments related to Quality and other key policy issues effecting ACOs, please visit our newsletter page.