Common MIPS Data File Errors

All records are invalid

Download log file and view error messages in column P and fix error.

See Reviewing MIPS Quality Measure Data

If one or more records in your MIPS data File were rejected, a log file is created and can be downloaded.

The log is an Excel spreadsheet copy of the original data file with an Error column P, specifying the errors encountered. Review and correct each error, save the updated data to a new file, and attempt the upload again.

Incorrect file name

File naming convention is 

mips_yyyymmdd-hrmiss (or)

mips_yyyymmdd-hrmiss<optional text>

<optional text> can be any text up to 15 characters. You may use this space for versioning purposes.

For example: mips_20171221-181224-version2.xlsx

Exam Date is required.

This is a required field. There are two acceptable formats: exam date and time or just date.

We accept two formats:

1) <mm/dd/yyyy><space><hr:mi:ss> in military time format, or

2) <mm/dd/yyyy> e.g. 07/17/2017

Physician NPI: [1234567890] is not registered yet or invalid.

Physician has not completed required MIPS portal registration. This is a separate registration process from enrolling your physicians in MIPS under the Manage Physician page.

Be sure this physician is included under your Manage Physician tab in NRDR.

Physician(s) must complete MIPS portal registration before data files can be uploaded successfully (learn more here).

Interested in registering many physicians at once? Contact the NRDR Help Desk and ask for assistance with Physician Registration for the MIPS portal.

Invalid Physician Group TIN[1234567989] and Physician NPI [1234567890] combination

Check Manage Physicians to be sure we have an NPI and TIN for each physician record.

TINs with a leading zero will cause errors when using the Excel template.

Check this information under Manage Physicians.

For MIPS, it is mandatory to associate each participating physician to a TIN for each registry to be used. 

If physicians are missing TIN and/or registries on the Manage Physician tab, please use the Manage Physician Template to update your information.

If using the Excel template, make sure to enter TINs as text values by adding a single quotation mark - e.g. '012345678.

Numerator Response Value Required

This is a required field; refer to detailed specifications for the appropriate numerator response value.

See MIPS Quality Measure Specifications.

Enter the code indicating whether performance was met OR, performance was not met OR the patient is excluded (medical, patient or system exclusion).

For example, a valid response for measure 436 would be G9637.

See tab Numerators Ref Data MIPS Measure Code List

Denominator Diagnosis Code is not available for this measure number.

Not all MIPS measures require a diagnosis code. To fix this error remove information from this column in your MIPS data file.

See Diagnosis Codes Ref Data MIPS Measure Code List

In the 2022 program

year, the following measures must report a denominator diagnosis code: 

12, 24, 99, 100, 102, 104, 143, 144, 146, 156, 236, 251, 409, 413, 418, and 420.

CPT Code is invalid

See CPT codes Ref Data MIPS Measure Code List

In the 2022 program year, the following measures must report multiple CPT diagnosis codes: 

102, 104, 143, 144, 265, 364, 404, 405, 406 and 421. 

You must separate each code by the following characters: <space>&<space>.

For example, measure 405 requires two codes, one valid code set is 74150 & G9547