On January 22, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced the launch of a new, streamlined application process for providers and hospitals seeking a hardship exception from financial penalties for failing to meet meaningful use electronic health record requirements. According to CMS, “[t]he streamlined hardship applications reduce the amount of information that . . . must be submit[ted] to apply for an exception.”
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Hardship Exemption
AMA Recommends Improvements to Meaningful Use Program
On October 14, 2014, the American Medical Association (AMA) outlined its vision for the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Meaningful Use (MU) Program in a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Despite the MU program’s achievements since its creation in 2009, the AMA believes “it is important and necessary to pause and fully assess what is working and what needs improvement before moving ahead to Stage 3 of the program.”
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CMS Reopens Meaningful Use Hardship Exception Application Period
On October 7, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reopened the submission period for hardship exception applications to allow eligible professionals and hospitals to avoid 2015 meaningful use penalties. Penalties for failing to demonstrate meaningful use of Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) were applied beginning October 1, 2014 for hospitals, and will be applied effective January 1, 2015 for Medicare eligible professionals.
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CMS Issues EHR Hardship Exemption Applications for Medicare Providers
On March 10, 2014, CMS released its applications for Medicare professionals and hospitals seeking a hardship exemption for the Stage 2 meaningful use requirements. In these applications, CMS added “2014 EHR Vendor Issues” to the list of grounds warranting an exemption. The application for eligible professionals can be found here; the application for hospitals can be found here.
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