Athletico Physical Therapy, a provider of physical and occupational therapy, voluntarily participated in CMS’s 2020 Quality Payment Program (QPP), resulting in its clinicians being recognized as top-tier providers under the nation’s premier quality of care measurement program.
The Quality Payment Program is part of Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), which is designed to tie payments to high quality and cost-efficient care, and is the only national benchmark for medical specialties including physical and occupational therapy services.
Collected and Submitted Data
In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and an exception process established due to the public health emergency, Athletico’s physical and occupational therapists continued to collect and submit quality data into the program. While all physical and occupational therapy providers are eligible to participate, due to how the program is structured, the vast majority of physical and occupational therapists were not required to report under the program in 2020.
Athletico Physical Therapy and its clinicians voluntarily participated in the program across all of its clinic locations, understanding participation in this program provided an opportunity to create value and promote excellence in outcomes for patients. MIPS performance is scored on a scale of 1-100, with exceptional performance in 2020 defined by scores at or above 85 points. Athletico’s average performance score across the entirety of its network of 545 clinics open at the time of 2020 data gathering exceeded 95 points, which was well above the Exceptional Performance Threshold, Athletico shares in a news release.
Quality Payment Program
The Quality Payment Program rewards providers for creating value, achieving excellence in clinical outcomes, improving population health, reducing costs, and empowering patients to take an active role in their care process. The program is intended to reward select clinicians who promote value and high-quality care, while simultaneously reducing payments to clinicians who fail to meet the program’s rigorous standards.
Individuals and organizations who score in the “Exceptional” range are designated as top-tier providers and will be awarded a bonus on every covered Medicare Part B payment received in 2022. These adjustments are paid by Medicare and do not impact an individual’s cost of care, meaning that patients gain the benefit of care from one of the highest-performing organizations in the country without having to pay more for the services they receive, the release continues.
“While Athletico therapists were not required to participate in this program in 2020, we elected to participate, using it as an opportunity to demonstrate the high quality of care and market-leading patient experience that our clinicians routinely deliver to their patients.
“Our performance under this program confirms the positive feedback our patients have been providing to us for years and reinforces our commitment to create value and contain costs for our patients, payors, and partners. It’s a particularly impressive outcome given all of the other challenges our industry faced related to COVID in 2020.”
— Ron Rodgers, President and CEO of Athletico
[Source(s): Athletico Physical Therapy, PR Newswire]
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