CMS suspends MIPS improvement activities for the 2025 performance year

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is suspending eight improvement activities for the 2025 performance year for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System under the Physician Fee Schedule. The eight suspended MIPS improvement activities include: MIPS eligible clinical leadership in clinical trials; create and implement an anti-racism plan; implement food insecurity and nutrition risk identification and treatment protocols; create and implement a plan to improve care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer patients; practice improvements that engage community resources to address drivers of health; use of toolsets or other resources to close health and health care inequities across communities; COVID-19 clinical data reporting with or without clinical trial; and vaccine achievement for practice staff: COVID-19, influenza, and hepatitis B. The agency intends to propose removal of these improvement activities in future rulemaking.

Clinicians are instructed to discontinue any of the eight suspended activities and instead seek other activities to receive MIPS credit. CMS posted an inventory of available improvement activities. Any completed or in-process activities that are now suspended may still be eligible for credit.