Hardship Exemption Applications for 2015 Electronic Health Records Incentive Program are due on March 15, 2016

As a reminder, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released streamlined hardship applications for the Medicare Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program for the 2015 reporting period. The applications for EPs are due on March 15, 2016. The applications for EHs and CAHs are due on April 1, 2016. Pain medicine physicians and other physicians who may participate in Meaningful Use can find the hardship applications on the CMS website.

As a result of ASA’s advocacy efforts, CMS created a hardship exemption for anesthesiologists as a part of the Meaningful Use Stage 2 Final Rule in 2012. This exemption allows anesthesiologists to avoid the payment penalties that began in 2015. Physician anesthesiologists with the Provider, Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) Anesthesiology specialty designation of “05” have an automatic hardship exemption and do not need to complete a hardship exemption form.

Please visit the ASA Quality and Regulatory Affairs website for more information regarding the EHR Incentive Program. Other materials related to the EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) are located on CMS and ONC websites, including several reference tools to guide EPs through the initial assessment stages

For additional information, please contact the ASA Department of Quality and Regulatory Affairs (QRA) at (202) 289-2222 or via e-mail [email protected].