Important Medicare Deadline Approaching for EPs
The following is communication from CMS.
If you are an eligible professional for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, 2014 is the last year you can start participation in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program in order to receive incentive payments.
Eligible professionals who begin participation in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program after 2014 will not be able to earn an incentive payment for that year or any subsequent year of participation.
If you choose to participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program for the first time in 2014, you should begin your 90-day reporting period no later than July 1, 2014 and submit attestation by October 1, 2014 in order to avoid the payment adjustment in 2015.
Note: October 1 is the attestation deadline for eligible professionals in their first year of participation to avoid the payment adjustment. However, eligible professionals who miss this deadline can still demonstrate meaningful use during the last 90-day reporting period of the year (October – December 2014) and earn an incentive payment for 2014.
Providers Who First Begin Participation in 2014 must:
- Demonstrate Stage 1 of meaningful use
- Meet 2014 EHR certification criteria
- Select any 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use, but must start no later than July 1, in order to avoid the adjustment
To Earn Your Maximum Medicare Incentive
- Demonstrate 90 days of Stage 1 of meaningful use in 2014 to earn up to $11,760.
- Demonstrate a full year of Stage 1 of meaningful use in 2015 to earn up to $7,840.
- Demonstrate a full year of Stage 2 of meaningful use in 2016 to earn up to $3,920.
If you successfully demonstrate meaningful use each year beginning in 2014, your total payment amount could be as much as $23,520.
Additional Resources
The EHR Incentive Program website offers several helpful tools and resources so you can successfully begin participation: