Table 2. Mean Adjusted Physician MIPS Scores by Patient Panel Social Risk and Specialty^a.

Specialtyd	MIPS score by patient social risk category, mean (SD)b			Difference in means (95% CI)c
	High	Medium	Low	High vs low	P value	High vs medium	P value	Medium vs low	P value
All	64.7 (38.0) [n = 57 035]	75.4 (32.1) [n = 170 457]	75.9 (33.7) [n = 57 062]	−11.2 (−11.6 to −10.8)	<.001	−10.7 (−11.0 to −10.4)	<.001	−0.5 (−0.8 to −0.2)	.001
Hospital-based	67.5 (35.1) [n = 17 666]	74.7 (31.4) [n = 52 196]	74.3 (33.9) [n = 6428]	−6.8 (−7.8 to −5.8)	<.001	−7.1 (−7.7 to −6.6)	<.001	0.3 (−0.5 to 1.2)	.41
Medical	68.7 (36.6) [n = 12 547]	78.3 (29.8) [n = 44 329]	79.3 (33.7) [n = 15 054]	−10.6 (−11.4 to −9.7)	<.001	−9.6 (−10.2 to −9.0)	<.001	−0.9 (−1.5 to −0.4)	.001
Obstetrics/ gynecology	40.5 (43.1) [n = 283]	69.4 (35.3) [n = 1572]	68.7 (38.1) [n = 971]	−28.2 (−33.4 to −23.0)	<.001	−28.9 (−33.5 to −24.3)	<.001	0.7 (−2.2 to 3.6)	.62
Primary care	65.2 (38.6) [n = 16 277]	74.8 (33.8) [n = 36 178]	74.8 (33.3) [n = 17 476]	−9.7 (−10.4 to −8.9)	<.001	−9.6 (−10.3 to −9.0)	<.001	−0.0 (−0.6 to 0.6)	.96
Psychiatry	40.0 (41.3) [n = 3763]	38.7 (40.3) [n = 1098]	31.3 (36.1) [n = 131]	8.7 (1.5 to 15.9)	.02	1.4 (−1.4 to 4.1)	.33	7.3 (0.1 to 14.6)	.047
Surgical	63.4 (38.4) [n = 6499]	74.7 (33.0) [n = 35 084]	75.3 (33.3) [n = 17 002]	−11.9 (−12.9 to −10.9)	<.001	−11.3 (−12.2 to −10.4)	<.001	−0.6 (−1.2 to −0.0)	.049

Abbreviation: MIPS, Merit-based Incentive Payment System.

^aMIPS scores may range from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating better performance across 3 domains: advancing care information, improvement activities, and quality. The scores reflect a weighted average of performance across those domains, along with additional bonuses and adjustments. MIPS scores were adjusted for mean patient panel clinical risk (Hierarchical Condition Category) score. Social risk was defined as the proportion of Medicare patients dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid in a physician’s panel.

^bPhysicians in the “high” category of patient panel social risk have a proportion of dually eligible patients in the top quintile among MIPS-participating physicians; those in the “medium” category are in the middle 3 quintiles; those in the “low” category are in the bottom quintile.

^cComparisons reflect mean-comparison (t) test between indicated subgroups.

^dAdditional details on the specific specialties included within each specialty category may be found in the documentation for the Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty file.¹⁵