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 »
