The U.S. Digital Service is creating application programming interfaces to make MACRA participation easier, according to an agency report to Congress on Tuesday.
The agency hopes developers will use these APIs to create tools that clarify parts of the Quality Payment Program, MACRA's consolidated payment models.
The service released one of those APIs, which makes available quality measures data, in April. Within a week of becoming available, the API was used to create an iOS app for searching for quality payment program measures.
Other APIs, focused on submission and scoring for the QPP, are still in development by the agency and private companies but are slated to become available by the end of the year.
The goal of all of the U.S. Digital Service's MACRA work is to support the transition into MACRA measures, a task the CMS asked the agency to take on. Though the CMS has exempted some providers from complying with MACRA, many are still on the hook for adhering to one of two paths in the QPP: the Merit-based Incentive Payment System or Advanced Alternative Payment Models.
Already, the U.S. Digital Service launched a "plain language" QPP website, in October 2016. In April 2017, the U.S. Digital Service helped launch a web tool that brings together data from various systems so doctors can use their National Provider Identifiers to see if they're required to participate in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System.
In the report, the U.S. Digital Service also outlined its work on VA technology systems. In the two years since the VA's Digital Service team launched vets.gov, the veteran-facing benefits-management site, it has added capabilities, including a tool for checking claim status. Soon, veterans will also be able to use the site to download their health records and check the status of appeals.
