Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Physician Notes:

Keep Working Toward Meaningful Use Thanks to Extension

If you were busily trying to prepare your meaningful use attestation for the 2014 reporting period, CMS has offered you a bit of breathing room. The deadline for attestation is now March 20, giving you three more weeks of prep time than you had before to attest to meaningful use. In addition, CMS is extending the EHR reporting option for PQRS to March 20 as well.

As long as you comply with the electronic health record (EHR) reporting option rules by 11:59 pm EST on March 20, you’ll be in the clear for meaningful use compliance. “CMS extended the deadline to allow providers extra time to submit their meaningful use data,” the agency said in a statement. “CMS continues to urge providers to begin attesting for 2014 as soon as they can.”

If you successfully attest for 2014, you’ll be able to receive the incentive payment, and avoid the Medicare payment adjustment that would hit your payments next January.

Not Medicaid: Keep in mind, however, that the deadline extension only applies to meaningful use for the Medicare program. “The Medicare extension does not affect deadlines for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program,” CMS said in its statement.

For more on the program and its deadlines, visit www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/index.html.