(a) Eligibility. (1) For a MIPS payment year, a solo practitioner or a group of 10 or fewer eligible clinicians may elect to participate in MIPS as a virtual group with at least one other such solo practitioner or group. The election must be made prior to the start of the applicable performance period and cannot be changed during the performance period. A solo practitioner or group may elect to be in no more than one virtual group for a performance period, and, in the case of a group, the election applies to all MIPS eligible clinicians in the group.

(2) Except as provided under § 414.1370(f)(2), each MIPS eligible clinician in the virtual group receives a MIPS payment adjustment factor and, if applicable, an additional MIPS payment adjustment factor based on the virtual group's combined performance assessment.

(b) Election deadline. The election deadline is December 31 of the calendar year preceding the applicable performance period.

(c) Election process. For the 2020 MIPS payment year and future years, the virtual group election process is as follows:

(1) Stage 1: Virtual group eligibility determination. (i) For the 2020 MIPS payment year, the virtual group eligibility determination period is an assessment period of up to 5 months beginning on July 1 and ending as late as November 30 of the calendar year preceding the applicable performance period, and that includes a 30-day claims run out.

(ii) Beginning with the 2021 MIPS payment year, the virtual group eligibility determination period is the first segment of the MIPS determination period.

(2) Stage 2: Virtual group formation. (i) Solo practitioners and groups that elect to participate in MIPS as a virtual group must establish a formal written agreement that satisfies paragraph (c)(3) of this section prior to the election.

(ii) A designated virtual group representative must submit an election, on behalf of the solo practitioners and groups that compose a virtual group, to participate in MIPS as a virtual group for a performance period in a form and manner specified by CMS by the election deadline specified in paragraph (b) of this section. The virtual group election must include each TIN and NPI associated with the virtual group and contact information for the virtual group representative.

(iii) After an election is made, the virtual group representative must contact their designated CMS contact to update any election information that changed during a performance period at least one time prior to the start of data submission.

(3) Virtual group agreement. The virtual group arrangement must be set forth in a formal written agreement among the parties, consisting of each solo practitioner and group that composes a virtual group. The agreement must comply with the following requirements:

(i) Identifies each party by name, TIN, and each NPI under the TIN, and includes as parties only the solo practitioners and groups that compose the virtual group.

(ii) Is for a term of at least one performance period.

(iii) Requires each party to notify each NPI under the party's TIN regarding their participation in the MIPS as a virtual group.

(iv) Sets forth each NPI's rights and obligations in, and representation by, the virtual group, including, but not limited to, the reporting requirements and how participation in the MIPS as a virtual group affects the NPI's ability to participate in the MIPS outside of the virtual group.

(v) Describes how the opportunity to receive payment adjustments will encourage each member of the virtual group (and each NPI under each TIN in the virtual group) to adhere to quality assurance and improvement.

(vi) Requires each party to update its Medicare enrollment information, including the addition or removal of NPIs billing under its TIN, on a timely basis in accordance with Medicare program requirements and to notify the other parties of any such changes within 30 days of the change.

(vii) Requires completion of a close-out process upon termination or expiration of the agreement that requires each party to furnish all data necessary for the parties to aggregate their data across the virtual group's TINs.

(viii) Expressly requires each party to participate in the MIPS as a virtual group and comply with the requirements of the MIPS and all other applicable laws (including, but not limited to, Federal criminal law, the Federal False Claims Act, the Federal anti-kickback statute, the Federal civil monetary penalties law, the Federal physician self-referral law, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996).

(ix) Is executed on behalf of each party by an individual who is authorized to bind the party.

(d) Virtual group reporting requirements. For solo practitioners and groups of 10 or fewer eligible clinicians to participate in MIPS as a virtual group, all of the following requirements must be met:

(1) Virtual groups must meet the definition of a virtual group at all times during the applicable performance period.

(2) Solo practitioners and groups of 10 or fewer eligible clinicians that elect to participate in MIPS as a virtual group must aggregate their performance data across the virtual group's TINs, and for the Promoting Interoperability performance category, must aggregate the performance data of all of the MIPS eligible clinicians in the virtual group's TINs for whom the virtual group has data in CEHRT.

(3) Solo practitioners and groups of 10 or fewer eligible clinicians that elect to participate in MIPS as a virtual group will have their performance assessed at the virtual group level across all four MIPS performance categories.

(4) Virtual groups must adhere to the election process described in paragraph (c) of this section.

[83 FR 60077, Nov. 23, 2018, as amended at 84 FR 63195, Nov. 15, 2019]