If you’re interested in forming a virtual group for the 2020 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance year, the election period started October 1st. To form a virtual group, you must follow an election process and submit your election to CMS via email between October 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. Details about virtual groups and the election process are available in this toolkit.
What is a Virtual Group?
A virtual group is a combination of two or more Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) assigned to:
- One or more solo practitioners (who are MIPS eligible clinicians); or
- One or more groups consisting of 10 or fewer clinicians (including at least 1 MIPS eligible clinician); or
- Both (solo practitioners and groups of 10 or fewer clinicians) that elect to form a virtual group for a performance period for a year
Note: A solo practitioner or group can only participate in one virtual group during the performance period.
What is the Election Process?
There is a two-stage election process for forming a virtual group:
Stage 1 (optional)
- Contact your Quality Payment Program Technical Assistance organization for information regarding TIN size to help you determine if you meet the TIN size criteria to join or form a virtual group.
Stage 2 (required)
As part of Stage 2 of the election process, you must:
- Have a formal written agreement
- Name an official virtual group representative
- Submit the virtual group’s election via e-mail to CMS at MIPS_VirtualGroups@cms.hhs.gov by December 31, 2019
- Determine group size and low-volume threshold
Download the 2020 Virtual Groups Toolkit to learn more about the election process and how to participate in MIPS as a virtual group in 2020.
Need Help?
- Request technical assistance from on-the-ground organizations that can provide no-cost support.
- Contact the Quality Payment Program by:
- Email: QPP@cms.hhs.gov or
- Phone: 1-866-288-8292/ TTY: 1-877-715-6222