May 17, 2021

Updated May 23, 2021

Watch Now: Applying for the 2021 MIPS PY COVID-19 EUC

CMS recently made the 2021 MIPS performance year COVID-19 Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances (EUC) exception application available. 

MIPS eligible clinicians who report that they are continuing to experience significant hardship due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency will have all four MIPS performance categories reweighted to 0-percent of their final score, unless they submit data for two or more performance categories. As a reminder, EUCs are defined as rare events entirely outside of your control and the control of the facility in which you practice. These circumstances would:

• cause you to be unable to collect information necessary to submit for a MIPS performance category;
• cause you to be unable to submit information that would be used to score a MIPS performance category for an extended period of time (for example, if you were unable to collect data for the quality performance category for three months), and/or;
• impact your normal processes, affecting your performance on cost measures and other administrative claims measures.

How to Apply

Clinicians will need an HCQIS Access Roles and Profile (HARP) account to submit an EUC application. Once you sign in to QPP with your HARP credentials, click “Exceptions Application” on the left-hand navigation and then select “Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances.” Learn how to obtain a HARP account in the QPP Access User Guide under the “Register for a HARP Account document” section. All EUC applications—including the COVID-19 EUC application—must be submitted no later than 8 p.m. EST on December 31, 2021.

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