The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that the deadline to request hardship exemptions from the 2012 penalty (1% payment reduction) has been extended to Tuesday Nov. 8th.
Eligible Professionals can submit their hardship exemption on the Quality Net website.
As a reminder, eligible professionals (EPs) must qualify for one or more of the following categories in order to submit a request for a hardship exemption by Nov. 8 to avoid the 2012 penalty which is a 1 percent payment reduction in 2012:
- Inability to electronically prescribe due to local, state, or federal law or regulation
- Limited prescribing activity
- Insufficient opportunities to report the electronic prescribing measure
- Practice in a rural area without sufficient high speed internet access
- Practice in an area without sufficient available pharmacies for electronic prescribing
- Registered to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs for 2011 and have adopted Certified EHR technology
For more information on the CMS e-prescribing incentive program, visit the CMS eRX webpage.