Summer’s here, and the July 4 holiday weekend is around the corner. Before packing your bags or lighting up the grill, take a moment to review the meaningful use hardship exception guidelines. The deadline to apply for a hardship exception and avoid a 2016 payment adjustment is July 1 at 11:59 pm ET.
You do not need to file a hardship exception if any one of these scenarios applies to you:
- You successfully demonstrated meaningful use in 2014;
- You’re a hospital-based provider; or
- You’re a new eligible professional who didn’t file Medicare or Medicaid claims in 2014.
You can only file for a hardship and avoid the payment adjustment if you weren’t able to achieve and report meaningful use due to circumstances outside of your control. For example, if you used a vendor prior to coming to Eyefinity who was not able to get their EHR software certified in time, you might qualify for a hardship.
The timeline for hardship exceptions and payment adjustments can be confusing since the payment adjustments occur two years after the participation year.
If you failed to participate in this calendar year… | File for a hardship exception by this date… | To avoid a payment adjustment in this year… |
2014 | July 1, 2015 | 2016 |
2015 | July 1, 2016 | 2017 |
2016 | June 30, 2017 | 2018 |
To help you determine if a hardship exception is right for you, use the Hardship Exception Tool. For more information about filing a hardship exception, refer to CMS’ Payment Adjustments and Hardship Exceptions page.
Filed under: meaningful use | Tagged: Meaningful Use | 1 Comment »