The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has endorsed Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes Inc (FOTO) as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) for 2019.

The QCDR enables PTs and OTs to submit MIPS (Merit-based Incentive System) data for the 2019 reporting period. FOTO has held CMS registry endorsements since 2009, it notes in a media release.

“FOTO’s experience driving compliance for physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs), long-standing history as a CMS endorsed registry, and commitment to patient outcomes, makes FOTO the system of choice for trusted data collection and reporting for CMS payment programs,” says Christopher Hayes, chief technology officer for FOTO Inc.

Flexible reporting options are available. The QCDR is interfaced with several EHR (electronic health record) systems—providing eligible clinicians a seamless end-to-end electronic reporting option. Clinicians’ quality outcome and process measures, plus improvement activities, will be automated for submission to CMS’s QPP (Quality Payment Program). FOTO’s API is available to any documentation solution that would like to participate in this program.

Private practice providers who use the FOTO Outcomes Manager solution are encouraged to consider their choices for participation in the MIPS program during 2019. For the small number of PTs and OTs who are not required, or are excluded, this year, there is still the benefit of choosing between CMS’s Opt-in Participation or Voluntarily Participation models—whichever is most applicable to their situatio, the release explains.

Hayes points out in the release that private practice clinicians might consider “reviewing a recent 12-month snapshot of Medicare B reimbursements and multiply that by various payment adjustment scenarios, e.g., 1% or 2%, to help discern potential business impacts and consider value vs. risk.”

“2019 offers a ramp-up period since PTs and OTs are required to submit data for only two performance categories (Quality and Improvement Activities) instead of all four categories that will be mandatory in subsequent years,” he adds.

[Source(s): Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes, PR Newswire]