Check whether your group might fall into one of four new categories.
The push toward e-prescribing is in full swing, with physicians possibly being subjected to a one percent payment hit on CMS claims in 2012 if you don’t successfully participate in e-prescribing this year (and larger hits in 2013 and 2014).
If your physicians haven’t yet met e-prescribing criteria, take hope: CMS has proposed four additional ways that eligible professionals (EPs) can potentially avoid the adjustment in 2012.
The imminent penalty for physicians who don’t e-prescribe “has created quite a bit of concern about circumstances where doctors will potentially be penalized, not necessarily because of failure to electronically prescribe, but more so because of some complexities with regard to the measurement,” said Michael Rapp, MD, JD, director of the quality measurement and health assessment group at CMS, during a May 26 CMS Open Door Forum.
Previously, physicians could apply for a hardship exemption only if they could prove a lack of access to the internet in their area or limited access to pharmacies that accepted electronic prescribing. Under the new proposal, EPs would be eligible to request a hardship exemption that CMS would determine on a case-by-case basis if they meet one of the following additional four criteria, Rapp said.
1. Registering With Intent to Adopt EHR Technology Practitioners who intend to start participating in the HER (Electronic Health Record) Incentive Program might still be getting their technology in place, so they may not have e-prescribed ten times within the first six months of 2011, as is required to avoid the penalty. The new proposal aims to offer those practices a potential exemption.
2. Prescribing Meds That Legally Cannot Be Electronically Transmitted
