The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) just announced that the Quality Reporting Communication Support Page (where you go to apply for one of the four hardship exemptions from the 2013 1.5% Medicare payment reduction) will re-open November 1, 2012 through January 31, 2013 for Medicare 2013 Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Payment Adjustment Hardship Exemption Requests.
Beginning November 1, 2012, CMS will re-open the Quality Reporting Communication Support Page to allow individual eligible professionals and CMS-selected group practices the opportunity to request a significant hardship exemption for the 2013 eRx payment adjustment. Significant hardship request should be submitted via the Quality Reporting Communication Support Page (Communication Support Page) on or between November 1, 2012 and January 31, 2012. CMS will review these requests on a case-by-case basis. All decisions on significant hardship exemption requests will be final.
Important — Please note that this is for the 2013 eRx payment adjustment only. Hardship exemption requests for the 2014 payment adjustment will be accepted during a separate time frame later in calendar year 2013.
Are you already exempt from the 2013 1.5% payment cut?
The 2013 eRx payment adjustment only applies to certain individual eligible professionals. CMS will automatically exclude those individual eligible professionals who meet the following criteria:
Only 8 Days Left to Apply for a 2013 ePrescribing Exemption: Will You Face a 1.5% Adjustment?(jump to story)
Register Now: CMS National Provider Call on Certified EHR Technology (jump to story)
Two New CME Modules on Medscape: Fraud and Abuse (jump to story)
If You Are Not Currently ePrescribing, and Have Not Applied for a Hardship Exemption, You Have Until July 1st, 2012 to Do So
Reminder from CMS. All Emphasis Mine.
The 2013 eRx payment adjustment only applies to certain individual eligible professionals. CMS will automatically exclude those individual eligible professionals who meet the following criteria:
The eligible professional is a successful electronic prescriber during the 2011 eRx 12- month reporting period (January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011).
The eligible professional is not an MD, DO, podiatrist, Nurse Practitioner, or Physician Assistant by June 30, 2012, based on primary taxonomy code in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES).
The eligible professional does not have at least 100 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) cases containing an encounter code in the measure’s denominator for dates of service from January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012.
The eligible professional does not have 10% or more of their MPFS allowable charges (per TIN) for encounter codes in the measure’s denominator for dates of service from January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012.
The eligible professional does not have prescribing privileges and reported G8644 on a billable Medicare Part B service at least once on a claim between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012.
Avoiding the 2013 eRx Payment Adjustment
Individual eligible professionals and CMS-selected group practices participating in eRx GPRO who were not successful electronic prescribers in 2011 can avoid the 2013 eRx payment adjustment by meeting the specified reporting requirements between January 1 and June 30, 2012.
6-month Reporting Requirements to Avoid the 2013 Payment Adjustment:
Individual Eligible Professionals – 10 eRx events via claims
CMS may exempt individual eligible professionals and group practices participating in eRx GPRO from the 2013 eRx payment adjustment if it is determined that compliance with the requirements for becoming a successful electronic prescriber would result in a significant hardship.
Significant Hardships
The significant hardship categories are as follows:
The eligible professional is unable to electronically prescribe due to local, state, or federal law, or regulation
The eligible professional has or will prescribe fewer than 100 prescriptions during a 6-month reporting period (January 1 through June 30, 2012)
The eligible professional practices in a rural area without sufficient high-speed Internet access (G8642)
The eligible professional practices in an area without sufficient available pharmacies for electronic prescribing (G8643)
Submitting a Significant Hardship Code or Request
To request a significant hardship, individual eligible professionals and group practices participating in eRx GPRO must submit their significant hardship exemption requests through the Quality Reporting Communication Support Page (Communication Support Page) on or between March 1 and June 30, 2012. Please remember that CMS will review these requests on a case-by-case basis. All decisions on significant hardship exemption requests will be final.
Significant hardships associated with a G-code may be submitted via the Communication Support Pageor on at least one claim during the 2013 eRx payment adjustment reporting period (January 1 through June 30, 2012). If submitting a significant hardship G-code via claims, it is not necessary to request the same hardship through the Communication Support Page.
For more information on how to navigate the Communication Support Page, please reference the following documents:
If you have questions regarding the eRx Incentive Program, eRx payment adjustments, or need assistance submitting a hardship exemption request, please contact the QualityNet Help Desk at 866-288-8912 (TTY 877-715-6222) or via qnetsupport@sdps.org. They are available Monday through Friday from 7am to 7pm CST.
Registration Open for National Provider Call on Certified EHR Technology
If you are feeling “a little lost” about switching from a paper record, Meaningful Use, and choosing an EHR to get you started, this is the national provider call for you!
Wednesday, June 27; 2-3:30pm ET
Join CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) for a National Provider Call providing an overview of the use of certified EHR technology to meet meaningful use. Learn about the different types of certification and what certification actually tests. As of April 30, over $5 billion has been paid in EHR incentives under both programs. This is the last year Medicare eligible professionals can begin to participate to earn the full Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive payments.
Registration Information: In order to receive call-in information, you must register for the call on the CMS Upcoming National Provider Calls web page. Registration will close at 12pm on the day of the call or when available space has been filled; no exceptions will be made, so please register early.
Presentation: The presentation for this call will be posted prior to the call on the FFS National Provider Calls web page. In addition, a link to the slide presentation will be emailed to all registrants on the day of the call.
Two New CME Modules Now Available on Medscape on Fraud and Abuse
In early June, Medscape posted two new CME modules entitled, “Reducing Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse: Protecting Practices and Patients” and “How CMS Is Fighting Fraud: Major Program Integrity Initiatives.” These modules highlight efforts by CMS to fight fraud and abuse and how health care professionals can be part of those efforts.
Today HHS announced a proposed rule (complete rule here – 175 page pdf) that would delay the go live for ICD-10 from October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014. What follows are excerpts from the proposed rule.
Mary Pat recently sat down with Peter Polack, MD of Medical Practice Trends for another podcast to talk about one of the most important parts of any practice: The Bottom Line. In this two-part podcast series, Dr. Polack and MP discuss ideas for cutting costs and raising revenue to strengthen any group’s financial position.
Mary Pat’s Note: This post has always been popular because it answers one of the most burning questions in Healthcare: “How can I improve my bottom line?” If you have used any of these ideas in your practice- or have some of your own to share- let us know in the comments below!
BUILD ON WHAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY DOING:
1. Add physician hours – add evening or weekend hours; start your office hours earlier and end hours later.
2. Reduce physician time off – decrease vacation or change weekly days off to 1/2 days off.
3. Set a minimum number of providers to be in the office seeing patients at all times the office is open.
4. Have each provider add one new patient visit to his/her schedule weekly.
5. Add ePrescribing to recoup additional Medicare revenue and streamline prescribing (there are free ePrescribing software packages available, but evaluate them carefully so they don’t add more complexity to the system instead of less.)
6. Report PQRI measures to recoup additional Medicare revenue.
7. Charge patients an out-of-pocket fee for completing patient forms – disability forms, etc. and reserve office visits for treating patients.
8. Choose an EMR that qualifies your practice for the ARRA money (although it has been widely promoted that in a larger practice, an EMR and its associated work will cost more than you will get from the government.)
9. If you are in an underserved or rural area, check to see if there might be grants or funds available locally, in the state or federally, for adding a service to your practice.
10. If your practice does Independent Medical Exams (IMEs), reviews records or depositions, make sure that your fee schedule for such services is current and that the fees are collected before the physician provides the service.
As we finish off another month here at MMP, we wanted to go back over some of our most popular posts from the month and get us ready for another busy, productive, and meaningful month. Presenting, The Best of Manage My Practice, September 2011!
With the weather getting chillier, and coats and sweater getting pulled out of the closets again, it’s time once again to get ready for your patients’ flu shots! The CMS has released coding and pricing information for Flu shots given after September 1st, 2011, so bookmark the page or print it out for easy reference.
Did your providers get their e-Prescribing done to avoid your Medicare rate reduction? If not, you’ll probably want to apply for a CMS Hardship Exemption for 2012. Find out how here!
Do you dread patient complaints? Don’t! Patients with complaints are a GOLDEN opportunity to learn about your practice, gain new perspectives on your operation and connect and learn about your customers. Learn how to get everything you can from a complaint in “Why I Can’t Wait to Hear Patient Complaints“!
And finally, everything you always wanted to know but we’re afraid to ask about a common, but sometimes vague office routine: “The Right Way to Do Write-offs.”
We’ve started this monthly wrap-up to make sure you don’t miss any of the great stuff we post throughout the month on Manage My Practice, but we also want to hear from you! What were your favorite posts and discussions this month? Did we skip over your favorite from September? Let us know in the comments!
For the organized and busy professional on the go, the smartphone has quickly become a necessity on par with a persons house keys, wallet, or purse. The past five years have vaulted the smartphone from status symbol to must-have business tool by bringing data and communication capabilities from your office to the palm of your hand. With decision making and communication tools always at the ready, you can be productive from anywhere you are, and you are freed up to bring information to clients, meetings, and conferences without the hindrance of a laptop.
Physicians, practitioners and forward thinking healthcare organizations are leading the charge to embrace mobile health, often called mHealth, or the practice of patient care supported by mobile devices. A survey conducted at the physician online and mobile community QuantiaMD in May of 2011 found 83% of physicians reported using at least one mobile device and 25% used both a phone and a tablet. Of the 17% surveyed who did not use a mobile device, 44% planned on purchasing a mobile device sometime in 2011. Physicians surveyed reported their top uses for mobile devices as:
