Download AAFP's 2019 MIPS Playbook Today

Better yet, this instructional gem, dubbed the 2019 MIPS Playbook, is absolutely free to members.

Playbook creators aim to guide readers through the MIPS track of CMS' Quality Payment Program -- established after passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act in April 2015.

If this all sounds familiar, that's because the 2019 version of the playbook is a follow-up to the 2018 iteration.

Co-author Amy Mullins, M.D., is the AAFP's medical director for quality improvement. She told AAFP News that it's important for physicians to have the right information at their fingertips.

"The playbook needs to be updated every year because the regulations change every year," said Mullins. "Our job is to ensure members have the most current and accurate details about MIPS participation."

For instance, major changes for 2019 are listed right up front and include updates in categories including

• eligible clinician types,
  
• low-volume threshold,
  
• opt-in participation,
  
• performance period,
  
• bonus points and
• payment adjustment ranges.

Additionally, said Mullins, "There is new information in the 2019 Playbook that points out how physicians who are providing services like chronic care management and Medicare's annual wellness visits can choose quality measures and improvement activities that align with those programs."

Mullins and co-author Erin Solis, AAFP's health care finance manager, cover all essential areas, including provisions for small practices, reporting considerations, overviews on quality, cost improvement activities and promoting interoperability.

The playbook can best be thought of as a guide to participation -- and ultimately success -- in MIPS, said Mullins, who, after 13 years in private practice, understands the pace of a busy family medicine practice.

"Ideally, physicians will be able to hand this MIPS task off to another member of their office staff to get things rolling," she added.

Mullins encouraged members to download a copy today, and she added that the AAFP remains their best and and most trusted resource for MIPS information.

"I can't overstate the importance of seeing our members succeed in this program," said Mullins.

"Learning about and achieving a comfort level with the basics like how to select measures that work best for their practices, and then actually reporting in the different categories like quality, improvement activities and promoting interoperability will get family physicians across the finish line in good shape," she added.