Deadline for meaningful use hardship exception extended

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline for physicians and other providers to submit hardship exceptions for the meaningful use (MU) program. Providers now have until July 1 to apply for an MU exception. An exception would allow them to avoid the 2017 payment adjustment for failure to meet the reporting requirements in 2015. The previous deadline was March 15. CMS encourages providers to submit their applications electronically as soon as possible to avoid delays.

Applying for and receiving an exception does not prevent a provider from potentially receiving an incentive payment if they successfully attest for 2015 later. The exception simply protects the provider from the payment adjustment should they be unsuccessful in their attestation. Those who are unable to attest at all and fall into any of the exception categories may also submit an application.

The Meaningful Use attestation deadline is March 11. Additionally, providers can satisfy the Clinical Quality Measure (CQM) requirement of MU by reporting on Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) measures using the Electronic Health Record (EHR) method. The deadline for this is also March 11.

--Erin Solis, Regulatory Compliance Strategist for the American Academy of Family Physicians