In addition to VBC transformation leads, provider organizations also include dedicated VBC educators who are subject matter experts on MIPS requirements. Regulatory programs are constantly evaluated and revamped to better align their intent with their outcomes — as demonstrated by the shift to MVPs. The transitory nature of these programs and their associated rules can make it challenging to keep up with new developments. Thus, VBC educators work with individual practices to provide simplified and relevant content that breaks down the complex standards and scoring systems. They also develop toolkits and FAQ documents, as well as regular updates in the form of webinars and newsletters to keep practices apprised of new developments. This guidance helps minimize the burden of program updates on the clinical practices, keeping their focus on patient care.

Technology can play a vital role
Technology advancements complement the expertise of transformation leads and educators by easing interoperability challenges and enabling quality improvement opportunities. To streamline access to performance insights, electronic health records (EHRs) specific to oncology should include direct integration of specialty-specific measures into a reporting platform, which in turn can be used to monitor and manage performance in real time. As an example, pain management, which is a known metric associated with patient quality of life and avoidable hospitalizations, can be documented within the EHR and integrated reporting can highlight opportunities for care teams to follow up with patients who have persistent, unmanaged pain. This way, care teams are empowered to identify and proactively reach out to patients with unmanaged pain, promoting better patient care and outcomes. Ultimately, this type of integrated solution affords better patient care, as well as improved MIPS quality performance scores.
An ideal state is one where an EHR system is integrated with qualified clinical data registries (QCDRs) that support specialty-specific quality measures and allow for direct data submission to CMS for MIPS participation. QCDRs enable improved patient care and outcomes for a specific specialty area. Typically, QCDRs are developed as collaborations between healthcare technology organizations and specialty medical entities, such as specialty societies, regional health collaboratives, or a network of specialists.

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