MIPS/MACRA Built into Ophthalmology EHR: The Invisible Architecture of Modern Eye Care
In the United States, the way physicians are reimbursed has changed fundamentally over the past decade. The shift did not come from technology vendors or healthcare startups. It came from federal policy. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) reshaped how clinicians are paid under Medicare, replacing older reporting programs with the Quality Payment Program (QPP). Physicians now participate either through the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or through Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). For ophthalmology practices, this transformation has quietly altered the role of the EHR. What used to be a documentation system has become something far more consequential: the operational infrastructure that determines whether a practice earns incentives, avoids penalties, and demonstrates measurable quality of care. The most effective ophthalmology EHR systems today are not simply digital charting tools. They ...