An important first step in determining whether your practice will be able to use the NRDR Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) for MIPS participation is to review the lists of available measures and select measures relevant to your practice. By using the QCDR to participate in the MIPS program, radiologists can avoid a negative payment adjustment for not reporting and can potentially earn an incentive payment.


There are two types of measures available for MIPS reporting: MIPS measures and QCDR measures. MIPS measures are the standard quality measures officially included in the MIPS program by CMS; these measures are available to all MIPS participants regardless of which submission method they choose.


QCDR measures are unique to each of the six NRDR databases and are therefore only available to MIPS participants using the ACR QCDR participation option. Consult the ACR QCDR Measures Specifications document for details on each measure.


Per MIPS program requirements, individuals or groups should report a total of six Quality measures with at least one Outcome measure (or High Priority measure if an Outcome is unavailable). However, to maximize your MIPS final score, ACR recommends submitting data to the QCDR for more than six measures throughout the performance year, and then choosing your six best measures for final submission to CMS at the end of the reporting period. You can submit data to the QCDR for as many measures as you want, but ACR will only submit data to CMS for the measures you officially select for MIPS after the close of the reporting period. After identifying your measures for the 2018 MIPS performance year, start submitting your data through the relevant registry process (for QCDR Measures) and/or the MIPS Portal (for MIPS Measures).