5 Ways to Increase Your MIPS Score This Year

Practical strategies for providers who want better results and bigger bonuses.

Introduction

When it comes to MIPS, a few points can mean the difference between earning a bonus or getting hit with a penalty. Yet many providers leave their scores to chance, relying on basic reporting tools or incomplete data.

If you’re looking to improve your score this year (and your bottom line), here are five high-impact strategies that actually move the needle.

1. Choose the Right Quality Measures for Your Specialty

One of the biggest mistakes providers make is reporting on the wrong measures either because they’re stuck with what their EHR allows or they choose ones that don’t reflect their true performance.

What to do:

• Identify measures with benchmarks that favor your specialty
• Choose ones you perform well on even if they’re outside your default EHR list
• Use a registry that lets you select from the full CMS-approved list

Flow8Health helps you match with high-value measures based on your practice type and prior data.

2. Monitor Performance Throughout the Year

Too many practices only “check in” once right before submission. That’s risky.

What to do:

• Set up quarterly or monthly score checks
• Track performance by measure and provider
• Flag any falling metrics early to give your team time to improve

With Flow8Health, you get real-time tracking and proactive score alerts all year long.

3. Don’t Ignore Improvement Activities

Many providers focus entirely on Quality measures and miss out on easy points from Improvement Activities (IAs).

What to do:

• Choose simple, high-weight activities like care coordination or patient engagement
• Document your participation clearly
• Complete IAs over a 90-day period minimum

IAs can contribute 15% of your total score and they’re often the easiest to secure.

4. Submit Through a Registry (Not Just Your EHR)

EHR submissions are often limited in scope, accuracy, and strategy.

What to do:

• Use a CMS-certified registry to access more flexible reporting
• Take advantage of national benchmarks and higher scoring potential
• Ensure complete data across all categories

Providers who switch from EHR to registry-based reporting often see score increases of 20–30 points.

5. Review Your Feedback File and Learn From It

Each year, CMS provides a feedback report outlining your score, category breakdown, and where you lost points.

What to do:

• Download your QPP Feedback File from the CMS portal
• Identify weaknesses (e.g. low-quality measure scoring, missing IAs)
• Adjust your strategy for the current performance year

Flow8Health offers full feedback analysis and a strategy reset session for all clients.

Conclusion

Improving your MIPS score isn’t about working harder it’s about reporting smarter.

With the right measures, tracking, and submission strategy, you can boost your performance and earn the financial rewards your practice deserves.

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