Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Payment Adjustments
Begin January 1, 2012
Posted 10-21-11
Are You Affected
Beginning January 1, 2012, eligible professionals who have not successfully met the requirements of the electronic prescribing (eRx) incentive program, or alternately qualify for a significant hardship exemption, will be subject to the 2012 eRx payment adjustment. The adjustment will reduce Medicare payment rates by 1 percent of the provider’s allowable Medicare Part B charges.
CMS would like to remind eligible professionals and group practices that the deadline to request a hardship exemption for the 2012 eRx payment adjustment is November 1, 2011.
A Quick Reference Guide (PDF, 65 KB) is available to help you understand the changes that the eRx Final Rule made to the 2011 Medicare eRx Incentive Program. As a result of changes to the program, eligible professionals and group practices have until November 1, 2011, to submit a significant hardship exemption request and rationale.
Please note: To be considered for an exemption under the significant hardship exemption category 'Eligible professionals who register to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and adopt Certified EHR Technology,' an eligible professional must:
- Have registered for either the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program
- For instructions on how to register for one of the EHR Incentive Programs, refer to the Registration and Attestation page of the EHR Incentive Programs section of the CMS Web site.
- Show that they adopted certified EHR technology no later than October 1, 2011, and provide identifying information about the certified EHR Technology.
- Please note that in order to qualify for an exemption to the 2012 eRx payment adjustment under this significant hardship exemption category, it is not necessary that an eligible professional receive an incentive payment under the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program
To request an exemption, individual eligible professionals must submit their hardship exemption requests through the Quality Communications Support Page and group practices participating under the group practice reporting option (GPRO) must submit hardship exemption requests via a letter to CMS. Please remember that CMS will review these requests on a case-by-case basis. All decisions on significant hardship exemption requests will be final. For additional information and resources, please visit the CMS Web site.
Source: www.palmettogba.com/palmetto/providers.nsf/ls/J1B~8MTEM38203
