Most physicians will need to act by July 1 to avoid the 1% payment reduction associated with the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program in 2015, also known as meaningful use (MU), according to the American College of Radiology (ACR).
First-time meaningful use participants must begin participating by July 1 and complete attestation by October 1 to receive incentives for 2014 and avoid penalties in 2015. Those who begin after July 1 can still obtain incentives, but they will not avoid penalties in 2015 unless they also obtain a significant hardship exception, ACR said.
Those who began the MU program in 2011, 2012, or 2013 already avoid the 2015 MU payment adjustments via their compliance in 2013, according to ACR. However, if prior participants were noncompliant in 2013 for whatever reason, they must obtain a significant hardship exception to avoid 2015 penalties.
Eligible radiologists not participating in MU must receive a significant hardship exception to avoid penalties in 2015; most radiologists will be granted a hardship exception automatically by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), ACR said. Many of the remaining ACR members can otherwise submit an application, according to the organization.
Radiologists must have a Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS) primary specialty code of 30 (diagnostic radiology), 94 (interventional radiology), or 36 (nuclear medicine) by July 1 to receive an automatic hardship exception without requiring an application. Radiation oncologists and other ACR members who do not meet those prerequisites must manually apply to CMS for one of the other hardship exceptions by July 1.
