08/18/2025

QPP

Reminder to Submit Comments on the CY 2026 CMS Proposed Policy Changes for Quality Payment Program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule, which includes proposed policies for the Quality Payment Program (QPP). 

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) includes proposals for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs), as well as several Requests for Information (RFIs). Specifically, we’re proposing policies that:

• Continue the transformation of MIPS through MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs).
• Are responsive to feedback and concerns raised by interested parties.
• Maintain stability within the MIPS program through the established performance threshold.

2026 Policy Proposal Highlights
Key QPP policies that we are proposing in the CY 2026 PFS Proposed Rule include:

• Introducing 6 new MVPs for the 2026 performance year that are related to diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, neuropsychology, pathology, podiatry, and vascular surgery.
• Introducing a 2-year informational-only feedback period for new cost measures, allowing clinicians to receive feedback on their score(s) and find opportunities to improve performance before a new cost measure affects their MIPS final score.
• Maintaining the current performance threshold policies, leaving the performance threshold set at 75 points through the 2028 performance year.
• Introducing Qualifying APM Participant (QP) determinations at the individual level, in addition to existing determinations at the APM entity level.

Overview of RFIs
We are also seeking feedback on RFIs about the following topics:

• Establishing Core Elements for MVPs, to require reporting on key quality measures within each MVP.
• Establishing a process to assign clinicians to an MVP, to facilitate the most relevant reporting for their scope of care.
• Transitioning to FHIR-based electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) reporting in quality reporting programs.
• Understanding the current environment, including challenges, with collecting and exchanging high-quality healthcare data.
• Changing requirements for the Query of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Measure and Performance-Based Measures in the Public Health and Clinical Data Exchange Objective.

How Do I Comment on the CY 2026 Proposed Rule?
The proposed rule includes directions for submitting comments within the 60-day comment period. We must receive comments by 9/12/2025. When commenting, refer to file code: CMS-1832-P.

Use 1 of the 3 following ways to officially submit your comments:

• Electronically: regulations.gov
• Regular mail: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS-1807-P, P.O. Box 8016, Baltimore, MD 21244-8016.
• Express or overnight mail: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS-1832-P, Mail Stop C4-26-05, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.

We don’t accept FAX transmissions.

Additional Resources
Learn more about the QPP proposals by reviewing the following 2026 QPP Proposed Rule Resource:

• 2026 Quality Payment Program Proposed Rule Fact Sheet and Policy Comparison Table (file download) – Provides an overview of QPP proposals and RFIs included in the CY 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule, and a comparison table contrasting existing policies with proposals.

Register Now for the 2026 Self-Nomination and QCDR Measure Submission Question and Answer Session on August 21
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a virtual question and answer (Q&A) session on Thursday, August 21, 2025, from 1 – 2:30 p.m. ET. Participants can ask questions during this Q&A session about the Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) and Qualified Registry Self-Nomination and QCDR Measure Submission processes for the 2026 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance period.  Participants are encouraged to ask questions regarding the QCDR and Qualified Registry Self-Nomination forms available on the Quality Payment Program (QPP) website as well as the QCDR Measure Submission process for those submitting QCDR measures.

What are QCDRs and Qualified Registries?
QCDRs and Qualified Registries are CMS-approved third party intermediaries that collect clinical data on behalf of clinicians for data submission. Only intermediaries that want to become (and that meet the requirements of) a QCDR and/or Qualified Registry need to complete the Self-Nomination form.  You should attend the session if your organization plans to self-nominate as a 2026 QCDR or Qualified Registry. Participation in this session is optional. MIPS eligible clinicians, groups, virtual groups, subgroups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities, including Medicare Shared Savings Program, that want to report for the 2026 MIPS performance year via a QCDR or Qualified Registry reporting mechanism don’t need to self-nominate.

Session Details
Title: 2026 Self-Nomination and QCDR Measure Submission Question and Answer Session
Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET

To register for the 2026 Self-Nomination and QCDR Measure Submission Q&A Session, please email the QCDR Vendor Support Inbox at QCDRVendorSupport@gdit.com or Qualified Registry Vender Support Inbox at RegistryVendorSupport@gdit.com, and you’ll be provided the registration link to participate. If you don’t receive a confirmation email or if you have any registration questions, please contact us at one of the emails above. 

First Snapshot of 2025 Qualifying APM Participant Status and APM Participation Data Now Available
On July 3, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its Quality Payment Program Participation Status Tool based on the first snapshot of Alternative Payment Model (APM) data. The first snapshot includes data from Medicare Part B claims with dates of service between January 1, 2025, and March 31, 2025.

The tool includes 2025 Qualifying APM Participant (QP) status and Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) APM participation status.

To learn more about how CMS determines QP and the APM participation status for each snapshot, please visit the QPP website.

What Action Do I Need to Take?

• Log into the QPP Portal and verify your Entity information.
• If your information is inaccurate on the QPP website, contact the QPP helpdesk at QPP@cms.hhs.gov.

How Do I Check My QP or APM Participation Status?
To view your QP or APM participation status: 

• Visit the QPP Participation Status Tool.
• Enter your 10-digit National Provider Identifier (NPI).

What Does QP Status Mean? 
If you qualify as a QP, this means you are:

• Eligible for APM-specific rewards.
• Exempt from participating in MIPS.

Learn More
For more information on APMs, visit the QPP APM Overview webpage. For a 2024 and 2025 Comprehensive List of APMs (PDF, 664KB) and other APM-related materials, visit the QPP Resource Library.

Delayed Release of 2024 MIPS Final Scores and Targeted Review
There was a delay with receiving some of the final Medicare claims data needed to calculate cost measures. As a result, MIPS final scores for the 2024 performance year won’t be published until the fall, at which point we’ll also open the Targeted Review period. MIPS payment adjustments for the 2026 MIPS payment year will be released approximately one month after the release of final scores. The Targeted Review period will close 30 days after the release of MIPS payment adjustments. You’ll continue to be able to access measure and activity-level scores for the data you reported during the submission period. However, performance period benchmarks are part of final scoring and won’t be available until final scores are released.

We recognize that this is a change from the timeline we previously communicated and apologize for the inconvenience. We will communicate more definitive information about the revised timeline as we have it. In the meantime, we encourage you to confirm your MIPS eligibility and review the following scoring resources so that you’re prepared to understand your scores when they’re released.

To confirm your eligibility for a MIPS payment adjustment, enter your National Provider Identifier (NPI) on the QPP Participation Status Look Up Tool (check “PY 2024”) or sign into the QPP website and navigate to the Eligibility & Reporting page on the left hand navigation. Review pages 12 – 16 of the 2024 MIPS Eligibility and Participation Guide for more information about what you see.

Review these scoring resources:

• 2024 Traditional MIPS Scoring Guide (file download)
• 2024 MVPs Implementation Guide 

DAC CY 2023 Preview Period has Reopened and Measure Release Notes are Now Available
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has reopened the calendar year (CY) 2023 Doctors and Clinicians (DAC) Preview Period, which will remain open until Thursday, August 21, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET.

CMS reopened the Preview Period because adjustments were made resulting in the addition of 2 clinician quality measures and 17 group quality measures available for public reporting. CMS also made updates and display corrections to the CY 2023 Quality Payment Program (QPP) performance data available during the Preview Period that closed in June. More information about the additional measures can be found in the Measure Release Notes to Clinician Performance Information on the Medicare.gov Compare Tool for CY 2023 Clinicians Public Reporting.

Even if you already reviewed your CY 2023 QPP performance information during the previous Preview Period, CMS encourages you to review your performance information again before it’s released to the public on the profile pages of clinicians and groups on the Medicare.gov compare tool and in the Provider Data Catalog. You can review this information for any changes or updates in the secure preview on the QPP website.

For more about the CY 2023 Preview Period reopening, including updated CY 2023 QPP performance information documents, visit the Care Compare: Doctors and Clinicians Initiative webpage.

Note that Accountable Care Organization (ACO) group-level data won’t be available on the QPP website during the Preview Period. Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians who participate in Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs will be able to preview their performance information in their 2023 MIPS Performance Feedback.

For more help accessing the QPP website or getting your Health Care Quality Improvement Systems (HCQIS) Access Roles and Profile (HARP) user role, email the QPP Service Center at QPP@cms.hhs.gov. To learn how to sign up for a HARP account, review the QPP Access User Guide.

If you have any questions about public reporting of clinicians and groups on the compare tool on Medicare.gov, contact the QPP Service Center by emailing QPP@cms.hhs.gov, submitting a QPP Service Center ticket, or calling 1-866-288-8292 (Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. ET).

People who are deaf or hard of hearing can call 711 to connect with a Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Communications Assistant.