eRx Incentive Program’s Quality Reporting Communication Support Page to Reopen
The Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program uses a combination of incentive payments and payment adjustments to encourage eligible professionals (EPs) to engage in electronic prescribing. The program provides an incentive payment to practices with eligible professionals who successfully e-prescribe for covered Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) services furnished to Medicare Part B beneficiaries. Beginning in 2012, the program instituted negative payment adjustments to those eligible professionals who are not successful electronic prescribers on their Medicare Part B services.
To qualify for the 2012 eRx incentive, individual EPs may choose to report on their adoption and use of a qualified eRx system by submitting information on eRx measures to CMS on their Medicare part B claims, to a qualified registry, to CMS via a qualified electronic health record (EHR) product, or to a qualified data submission vendor. Successful EPs will earn a 1% incentive payment. Individual eligible professionals and group practices participating in the eRx Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO) who are not successful electronic prescribers will be subject to a 1.5% payment adjustment on their Medicare Part B services provided January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013.
Beginning November 1, 2012, CMS will re-open the Quality Reporting Communication Support Page to allow individual eligible professionals and group practices the opportunity to request a significant hardship exemption for the 2013 eRx payment adjustment. These requests should be submitted via the Quality Reporting Communication Support Page from November 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) states that it will review these requests on a case-by-case basis. All decisions on significant hardship exemption requests will be final.
