MIPS Reporting & ASM Preparation Guides
5 working guides for the 2026 MIPS cycle and the Ambulatory Specialty Model.
Each guide covers a decision practices have to make this year, with the CMS thresholds and dates behind it. They are written by the team that operates VBCA's CMS-approved registry.
Key dates from October 2026 through March 2027, and the guide that covers each
- Oct 3, 2026Last day to start a 90-day Improvement Activities periodDeadlines guide
- Nov 30, 2026Registration closes for MIPS Value PathwaysDeadlines guide
- Dec 31, 2026The performance year ends, and hardship exception applications are dueDeadlines guide
- Jan 1, 2027The Ambulatory Specialty Model beginsASM preparation
- Jan 4, 2027The submission window opens for 2026 dataReporting guide
- Mar 31, 2027The submission window closes at 8 p.m. ETReporting guide
Start here for MIPS
The 2026 MIPS cycle, from eligibility to the March 31, 2027 deadline
Start with the reporting guide for the full picture, then use the three focused guides when a single question is holding up a decision.
The full pictureMaintained through the performance year
2026 MIPS Reporting: Requirements, Deadlines, and What the Score Is Worth
Inside the guide
- EligibilityMIPS Eligibility in 2026: Do You Have to Report?The low-volume threshold, the two determination periods, opt-in versus voluntary reporting, exclusions, and how to check your status at every practice where you bill.Read guide
- DeadlinesMIPS Reporting Deadlines: The Complete 2026 TimelineEvery date in the 2026 MIPS cycle in one table: the Oct 3 Improvement Activities cutoff, Nov 30 MVP registration, Dec 31 exception applications, and the Jan 4 to Mar 31, 2027 submission window.Read guide
- PenaltiesThe MIPS Penalty: What It Costs, Who Gets It, and How to Avoid ItThe score-to-adjustment math, what the full -9% costs at each revenue level, who actually gets penalized, and the seven moves that still prevent it for 2026 reporting.Read guide
The MIPS data you already have is also where preparation for the Ambulatory Specialty Model starts.
Ambulatory Specialty Model
Preparing for the Ambulatory Specialty Model before January 2027
Checklists for cost position, quality measures, and primary care coordination, built on the MIPS episode data you already have.
Guide
ASM Preparation: What You Can Do Now
Practical guide to using the preparation window before ASM launches in January 2027. Checklists covering cost position, quality measures, primary care relationships, and reporting infrastructure.
Inside the guide
Background reading on ASM
Analysis and specialty summaries from Insights
- CY2027 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule: Summary and AnalysisAnalysis · · 8 min read
- CMS Releases Preliminary Ambulatory Specialty Model (ASM) Participant ListAnalysis · · 3 min read
- Ambulatory Specialty Model (ASM) for Spine & Pain Specialists: What Low Back Pain Clinicians Need to KnowSpecialty summary · · 5 min read
- Ambulatory Specialty Model (ASM) for Cardiologists: What Heart Failure Specialists Need to KnowSpecialty summary · · 4 min read
- The Ambulatory Specialty Model ExplainedAnalysis · · 11 min read
- CMS Is Building Both the Test and the Tools to Pass ItAnalysis · · 3 min read
Reference tools
Look up any 2026 measure, benchmark, or specialty set
The guides explain the rules. These pages hold the measure-level detail, searchable by measure and by specialty.
- 1622026 MIPS quality measuresEvery measure in the 2026 set, each with its specification.
- 105Measures with 2026 benchmarksDecile thresholds and topped-out status by collection type, in one table.
- 48Specialty measure setsThe measures available to your specialty, with their benchmarks.
- 5,556ASM participant lookupMedicare's final list of specialists for the Ambulatory Specialty Model, across 46 states.
Send us the question these guides don't answer
Include your specialty and how many tax IDs you bill under. The MIPS and ASM questions we hear most often become the next guides.
Ask a guide question
Helpful to have: your specialty, how many tax IDs you bill under, and whether you report MIPS, face ASM in 2027, or both.
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