Is Your Practice Ready for MVP Reporting? A NextGen Readiness Audit for the MIPS Transition

Choosing an MVP is the easy part.

CMS has proposed ending traditional MIPS after the 2028 performance year, with MIPS Value Pathways becoming mandatory in 2029. Most organizations have started scanning the list of available pathways and picking the one that looks closest to their specialty.

That is a reasonable first step. It is not readiness.

MVP readiness depends on something less visible. Can your documentation, workflows, data, and NextGen configuration actually support the pathway you selected? For many practices, the honest answer is not yet.

This article walks through a practical readiness audit in seven questions, each one aimed at a different part of the problem.

MVP Readiness Is More Than Selecting a Pathway

A suitable MVP does not automatically mean the practice can report it successfully.

Pathways rely on measures, accurate measures rely on good data, and good data starts with consistent documentation. All of that comes back to workflow and, ultimately, how your NextGen environment is configured.

Most importantly, MIPS reporting strategy reflects what happens throughout the year, in every patient visit, in every chart, at every point of care.

This is why MIPS Value Pathways readiness deserves a careful look now. The transition period enables organizations to find gaps while they are still fixable.

Question 1: Which MVP Best Matches Your Specialty and Patient Population?

The first question is whether the MVP actually fits the work your organization does.

CMS currently offers 27 voluntary MVPs, with three more proposed for 2027. Each pathway is built around a specialty or area of care, to make reporting more relevant to the patients and services being reported.

For a single-specialty practice, the choice may be fairly straightforward, unlike a multi-specialty organization, which can be more complicated.

This is where subgroups may help. CMS allows organizations to report at the subgroup level, giving larger practices more flexibility in how they approach MVP reporting. But that flexibility comes with requirements. Each subgroup needs enough patients and providers to meet the applicable reporting thresholds.

A useful starting point is to ask which MVP best reflects the care your organization actually provides.

Question 2: Are You Already Capturing the Required Data?

This is where many organizations discover a gap.

Review each measure in your likely pathway and check whether the required information exists as structured data.

Structured fields are ideal because they populate reports reliably, while free text may contain the right information but cannot be counted, filtered, or extracted consistently.

Look for missing information. Identify where data lives outside NextGen.

Then review your current NextGen configuration. Does it capture what the pathway requires? If not, MVP reporting requirements will surface that gap at the worst possible time.

Question 3: Are Providers Documenting Consistently?

Reporting depends on the information providers capture during everyday care.

Some variation is expected. The problem starts when those differences affect whether a measure can be captured and reported consistently.

Start with provider variation. Two clinicians may document the same decision differently. One uses a template with discrete data fields. The other free types a note. The same issue appears across locations when sites use different workflows, templates, or habits.

Training gaps and templates that don't reflect how providers actually work can add to the problem too.

Workarounds are another useful signal. If staff have created a separate process to get something done, evaluate why the existing workflow is not working for them.

The goal is to ensure the information needed for reporting is captured consistently enough to be trusted.

Question 4: Can You Reliably Report the Measures?

Capturing data and reporting it are two different things.

Evaluate report specifications. Check whether the HQM reports pull from the fields where your providers are putting data.

Validate the data. Run a report and compare results against source records. Check whether the numbers reconcile.

Review measure definitions carefully. Small differences in how a measure is defined can produce very different results. Confirm that your interpretation matches CMS specifications.

Patient-level results matter too. A summary total tells you whether you passed. A patient-level view tells you who to contact. NextGen MIPS reporting works best when you are regularly reviewing data.

Question 5: Can Staff Act on Performance During the Year?

A report that arrives in January cannot change last year's performance.

Consider what your team can see while there is still time to act, including dashboards that show measure status, care gaps organized by priority, and patient worklists that make outreach straightforward.

Then look at follow-up. When a gap is identified, who contacts the patient, and what happens next?

Avoid year-end cleanup. Organizations that scramble in the final quarter are compensating for missing visibility earlier. Our blog on why quality reporting needs to move closer to daily operations covers this in more detail.

Question 6: Will the MVP Require Workflow or Configuration Changes?

This question determines how much work lies ahead.

Potential needs vary widely. Some organizations need template adjustments, while others need new quality tools, reporting development, or tasking workflows. Interfaces may be needed to pull in external data, and structured template documentation may need to replace free-text habits.

There may also be upgrade dependencies. Certain functionality may only be available in a newer release. Discovering that late unnecessarily compresses your timeline.

Question 7: Who Owns MVP Performance?

Someone needs to own keeping the work moving.

MVP performance crosses several teams, including clinical, quality, operations, IT, and leadership. Each has a different role.

The important part is clarity. When ownership is spread across teams without a point of accountability, gaps sit unresolved because everyone assumes someone else is handling them.

The technology supports the process. The organization still needs clear ownership for the work behind the numbers.

Turn the Audit Into a Gap List

Once you've worked through the questions, turn the findings into a list. Separate what is ready now from what needs configuration changes, workflow redesign, reporting development, training, or an upgrade.

This gives the team a clearer view of the gaps. It also shows leadership where investment may be needed and where existing tools are enough.

Use the Transition Period Instead of Waiting for the Deadline

Evaluate likely pathways, measures, documentation, and workflow gaps while there is still time to address them thoughtfully.

Organizations that start now have options. They can test reporting approaches, adjust workflows incrementally, and train staff without disruption. Those that wait will face the same work under time pressure.

For a broader look at how MVPs will replace MIPS, read more on our blog Traditional MIPS Is on the Way Out: What the MVP Transition Means for NextGen Practices.

Build an MVP Strategy Around the Way Your Practice Actually Works

A reporting strategy that ignores real workflows will not survive contact with a busy clinic.

The goal is documentation, data capture, and reporting that reflect how care is actually delivered. That makes performance sustainable, not a yearly scramble.

TempDev works with NextGen organizations on quality measure configuration, workflow optimization, reporting development, and the data behind it all. We help practices evaluate which measures they can support today and what it would take to close the gap.

Not sure how ready your organization is? Start with an honest look at what your current environment can support, not with a pathway selection.

Talk with TempDev about your MVP readiness audit.