Doctors affiliated with health systems have much higher MIPS scores, JAMA study finds

Clinicians who were affiliated with a health system had “significantly better” performance scores under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System than those who were unaffiliated, according to a JAMA study published Tuesday. The researchers noted, however, that the study does not determine whether affiliated physicians were providing better quality care, raising questions about the program’s efficacy that need further research.
The differences were especially stark for technology-dependent measures like giving patients access to health records and electronic prescribing, which could be due to the technology and infrastructure a system can provide, the authors said.
A separate study, also published Tuesday in JAMA, found that physicians who had the highest proportion of patients dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid had significantly lowers MIPS scores than other doctors.