November 10, 2026
How Changes to Quality Payment Program Rules will Affect Pathologists Next Year
DEIAC: Mission Focused Within Pathology (CAP webinar)
Transcript
Nick Lanyi
CMS' Plan for the Quality Payment Program. How the CAP works for all pathologists and patients. And last chance to apply for a CAP Foundation Award. These stories and more coming up next. Welcome to CAP News. I'm Nick Lanyi with the College of American Pathologists. It's Tuesday, November 10th. Here's what's making news in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Last week, we told you about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2027. The CMS also made changes to its Quality Payment Program, which rewards improved patient outcomes through an alternative payment system based on quality measures. As expected, the final rule establishes a timeline for the long-awaited transition from MIPS, the merit-based incentive payment system, to MIPS value pathways, or MVPs, which have a narrower set of quality measures tailored to specialties. MIPS will be sunseted starting in payment year 2033, which is based on quality measures for the year 2031. After 2031, participating pathologists will use the Pathologists MVP program. For details, see the advocacy section of the CAP website. The CAP last week warned that proposed changes to the U.S. Census questionnaire would undermine public health. In a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, the CAP opposed plans to change residence criteria to U.S. citizens rather than all residents. As the CAP pointed out, the Census has counted all persons living in the U.S., regardless of citizenship or immigration status, since its inception in 1790. If the change takes effect, it would undercount the number of people living in certain communities, making public health research less accurate and reducing federal and state funding to such areas. Healthcare providers need to treat the sick and injured regardless of their citizenship status. The CAP also opposed removing questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation from the census. That information helps identify inequities in healthcare access and delivery. Eliminating it would also undermine the value of data in the National Cancer Registries programs that CAP supports. The final census rule will be published in the coming months. CAP's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee will hold a webinar next month to share highlights of its recent work to improve healthcare outcomes for all by identifying and mitigating bias in pathology and laboratory medicine. For example, the committee worked with the CAP Foundation to establish the Equity and Equality in Diagnostics Award, which grants up to $10,000 for projects that identify and mitigate bias in pathology and laboratory medicine. Here's Dr. Kisha Mitchell Richards, the committee's outgoing chair and a new member of the CAP Board of Governors, on another highlight, working with Chicago's I Am Abel Foundation, which connects mentor physicians with underrepresented students interested in medical careers.
Dr. Kisha Mitchell Richards
Hearing their questions on pathology in such a way that, you know, we're not used to because we're often talking to people who are already residents or who already have an understanding of medicine. Hearing how enthusiastic they are about the whole thing just rejuvenates your excitement about when you just start pathology and you think it's the coolest thing ever.
Nick Lanyi
In addition to Dr. Mitchell Richards, webinar presenters will be Dr. Julie Lemon, the incoming committee chair, committee member Dr. Christine Booth, and Dr. Juanita Evans, who heads its engagement subcommittee. We asked her why members should attend.
Dr. Juanita Evans
We really believe that health equity is important to the job that we do. You know, without providing great medicine to all, you won't have great medicine and you won't have great health care outcomes. And we want the larger community of pathologists who are members of the CAP to see some of this work that's happening and the many ways in which we're trying to advocate for the for our patients essentially. Advocate for a society that is just doing a little bit better every day.
Nick Lanyi
The webinar is on December 10th at Noon Central. Register at the education page of the CAP website. And finally, the deadline is November 12th to apply for the CAP Foundation's Presidential Pathology Scholarship, which awards $500 to $1,500 each year to pathologists, residents, or medical students for projects that advance the CAP president's stated focus for the year. This year, the focus is on future leaders. The foundation is accepting applications for programs that introduce K through 12 learners to the science, technology, and real-world impact of pathology through age-appropriate hands-on experiences, mentorship opportunities, and exposure to career pathways in pathology. Again, the deadline is November 12th. For more information, see the CAP Foundation website at foundation.cap.org. That's all for today. See the show notes for more information on today's stories. And if you have a story you'd like us to cover, write to us at stories at CAP.org. We'll be back Wednesday at 5 AM Eastern with another edition of CAP News. I'm Nick Lanyi. Have a wonderful day.