College of Computing to Modernize MIPS Online System, Connecting Healthcare Providers with Medicare
Over the last few years, Ying Wu College of Computing (YWCC) has been involved in a number of commercial software development projects, typically outsourced from corporations. By employing the skills of its international students, many of whom have prior experience in software development, the College enhances the student experience with real-world opportunities for advancement, innovation and societal change. Recently, Healthcare Innovation Solutions (HCIS), one of several subsidiaries of the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has taken advantage of this opportunity to modernize the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) – an online software platform developed for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) - which transforms value-based care and payment evaluations throughout the healthcare industry.
Copious acronyms aside, MIPS aids in uncomplicating complex Medicare-based healthcare administration by facilitating payment adjustments. It provides financial incentives for individual and group providers that meet specific metrics associated with quality, promoting interoperability, improvement activities and cost and combines three previous systems into a single program. The platform helps eligible providers avoid penalties and maximize their potential earnings by optimizing scores across the four performance categories.
The MIPS platform has been a CMS qualified registry for seven years already and has helped more than 12,000 clinicians nationwide improve performance and mitigate challenges or oversights that may affect their Medicare claims during a designated performance period. Thus far, it has successfully aided in avoiding close to $30 million in penalties and earn more than $70 million in incentives. However, it was built using software technologies which are now outdated and has trouble coping with large numbers of users and the variety of mobile devices in use today.
Munir Cochinwala, chief technology officer for YWCC, is now leading a platform re-design for a more responsive and data-driven configurable system to rapidly cope with changing CMS rules. The re-design will modernize and optimize the solution and include seamless interfaces to mobile environments.
The MIPS project, like most of the other software projects developed by YWCC, will be executed by graduate students, most of whom are international MS students, who come with prior industry experience. The students are carefully selected based on the project requirements and their background, skillset and academic performance at NJIT.
According to Cochinwala, the ability to practice software product development while pursuing a degree is intrinsic to the NJIT educational experience. “It provides valuable hands-on training and allows students to earn some modest income though on-campus jobs,” he said. This is especially important for international students who typically have limited financial means.
Cochinwala expects that the entire MIPS upgrade should be completed in approximately six to nine months during 2022.