Quality Payment Program Small Practices Newsletter: July 2025
Quality Payment Program Small Practices Newsletter: July 2025
The Quality Payment Program (QPP) Small Practices Newsletter is a monthly resource that provides small practices (15 or fewer clinicians) with program updates, upcoming QPP milestones, and resources to support their continued participation and success in QPP. The newsletter is usually disseminated on the second Tuesday of each month. This month’s newsletter is being distributed on the third Tuesday of July in order to provide you timely information regarding the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule, which includes proposed policies for QPP.
Please share this newsletter with your fellow clinicians and practice staff and encourage them to sign up to receive this monthly resource.
At-a-Glance: Required and Recommended Activities for Successful Participation in QPP
Each month, we share required and recommended activities for small practices to support their successful participation in QPP. The activities follow a rolling quarter approach, letting you see activities for the previous month, the current month, and the following month.
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.
Allowing multi-specialty small practices to continue reporting MVPs at the group level. (i.e., not requiring multispecialty small practices that want to report an MVP to do so at the individual or subgroup level)
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.
Learn more about the QPP proposals by reviewing the following 2026 QPP Proposed Rule Resources:
The 2025 Quality Payment Program (QPP) Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception application is available now through December 31, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET. This application allows users to indicate the reason they’re unable to report data for one or more MIPS performance categories.
How to Apply
To submit either exception application:
Sign in to the QPP website with your Health Care Quality Information System (HCQIS) Access Roles and Profile (HARP) account.
Choose “Exceptions Application” from the left-hand navigation.
Click “Add New QPP Exception” on the right side of the screen.
Choose “Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception.”
The MVPs registration window is open for the 2025 performance year. Individuals, groups, subgroups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities that want to report an MVP can register until December 1, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET.
You must have a HARP account and a QPP Security Official role to complete the MVPs registration.
How to Register
You’ll need to have the Security Official role to register your organization. Please refer to the QPP Access User Guide (ZIP, 4MB) for information about obtaining a Security Official role for your organization. To register:
Share your feedback on what you like most about the Small Practices Newsletter, what can be improved, and/or what topics you would like to see addressed. Please include “Small Practices Newsletter” in the email subject line.
Contact the QPP Service Center by email at QPP@cms.hhs.gov, by creating a QPP Service Center ticket, or by phone at 1‑866‑288‑8292 (Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. ET).
To receive assistance more quickly, please consider calling during non-peak hours — before 10 a.m. ET and after 2 p.m. ET.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing can dial 711 to be connected to a Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Communications Assistant.
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