Upcoming Deadlines

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Upcoming Deadline

BWC Providers Need to Enroll in OARRS

Effective December 1, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) will no longer reimburse for data prescriptions of controlled substances written by Ohio providers not enrolled in OARRS if the prescriptions are for chronic care. Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) classifies chronic care as meaning the provider has written three or more prescriptions for controlled substances for the same injured worker in a 12-week period.  The rule revision supports BWC’s goal to provide appropriate medications to injured workers in a safe and efficacious manner. 

Changes for Calendar Year 2014 Physician Quality Programs and the Value-Based Payment Modifier

cms.gov
November 27, 2013

"On November 27, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that updates payment policies and payment rates for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) on or after Jan. 1, 2014..."

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Eligible Professionals: Hardship Exception Applications due July 1, 2014

Are you a Medicare provider who was unable to successfully demonstrate meaningful use for 2013 due to circumstances beyond your control? CMS is accepting applications for hardship exceptions to avoid the upcoming Medicare payment adjustment for the 2013 reporting year.

Payment adjustments for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program will begin on January 1, 2015 for eligible professionals. (See Payment Adjustments & Hardship Exceptions Tipsheet for EPs.)

However, you can avoid the adjustment by completing a hardship exception application and providing supporting documentation that proves demonstrating meaningful use would be a significant hardship for you. CMS will review applications to determine whether or not you are granted a hardship exception.

CMS has posted hardship exception applications on the EHR website for:

• Eligible Professionals - see EP 2015 Hardship Exception Application
• Eligible Professionals submitting multiple National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) - see EP 2015 Hardship Exception Application Multiple NPIs

Applications for the 2015 payment adjustments are due July 1, 2014 for eligible professionals.  If approved, the exception is valid for one year.

New Hardship Exception Tipsheets You can also avoid payment adjustments by successfully demonstrating meaningful use prior to the payment adjustment. Tipsheets are available on the CMS website that outline when eligible professionals must demonstrate meaningful use in order to avoid the payment adjustments.

Want more information about the EHR Incentive Programs? Make sure to visit the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs website for the latest news and updates on the EHR Incentive Programs

Final Policy and Payment Changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for Calendar Year 2014

cms.gov
November 27, 2013

"On November 27, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized updates to payment policies and payment rates for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) on or after January 1, 2014. In recognizing the importance of care that occurs outside of a face-to-face visit, CMS finalized policies that will allow us to make a separate payment to physicians for managing select Medicare patients’ care needs beginning in calendar year (CY) 2015..."

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Meaningful Use deadline pushed back one-year

modernhealthcare.com   December 6, 2013
By Joseph Conn

"The CMS is giving providers another year to show they've met the Stage 2 criteria of the federal government's incentive program to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records. That means the start of the next phase will be pushed back a year..."

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New EHR Attestation Deadline for Eligible Professionals: March 31, 2014

CMS
February 7, 2014

CMS is extending the deadline for eligible professionals to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program 2013 reporting year from 11:59 pm ET on February 28, 2014 to 11:59 pm ET March 31, 2014.

In addition, CMS is offering assistance to eligible hospitals who may have experienced difficulty attesting to submit their attestation retroactively and avoid the 2015 payment adjustment.

This extension will allow more time for providers to submit their meaningful use data and receive an incentive payment for the 2013 program year, as well as avoid the 2015 payment adjustment.

This extension does not impact the deadlines for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program or any other CMS program, including the electronic submission for the Physician Quality Reporting System EHR Incentive Program Pilot.  (See CMS PQRS Participation Document).

How to attest? If you are an eligible professional, you may use the registration and attestation system to submit your attestation for meaningful use for the 2013 reporting year.  You must attest prior by 11:59 pm ET on March 31, 2014 to meet the new 2013 program deadline. 

If you are an eligible hospital, you may contact CMS for assistance submitting your attestation retroactively.  You must contact CMS by 11:59 pm on March 15, 2014 in order to participate for the 2013 program year. 

Resources If you are an eligible professional working on your attestation for the 2013 reporting period, there are resources available to help you with the registration and attestation process. 

• Stage 1 Meaningful Use Calculator
• Registration and Attestation User Guides
• EHR Incentive Program Website

The EHR Information Center is open to assist you with all of your registration and attestation system inquiries. Please call, 1-888-734-6433 (primary number) or 888-734-6563 (TTY number). The EHR Information Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Central Time), except federal holidays.

Tips In addition, there are some simple steps you can take which will help to make the process easier for you:

• Ensure that your payment assignment and other relevant information is up to date in the Medicare payment system PECOS
• Make sure to include a valid email address in your EHR program registration
• Consider logging on to use the attestation system during non-peak hours such as evenings and weekends
• Log on to the registration and attestation system now and ensure that your information is up to date and begin entering your 2013 data
• If you experience attestation problems, call the EHR Incentive Program Help Desk and report the problem
• If your organization has more than 1,000 providers assigned to a proxy user, use the PECOS system to designate additional proxies to facilitate attestation.

Reporting Period for EPs Ends December 31, 2013; Prepare for Attestation

cms.gov
November 27, 2013

December 31, 2013, is an important deadline for eligible professionals (EPs) participating in the EHR Incentive Programs. It marks the end of the calendar year and the last day of the 2013 meaningful use program year.

Attestation Deadline
If you are an EP participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, you have until February 28, 2014, to attest to demonstrating meaningful use of the data collected during the reporting period for the 2013 calendar year. You must attest by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 28 to demonstrate meaningful use. If you are participating in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, please refer to your state’s deadlines for attestation information.

You must attest to demonstrating meaningful use every year to receive an incentive and avoid a payment adjustment.

Payment Adjustments
Payment adjustments will be applied beginning January 1, 2015, if you have not successfully demonstrated meaningful use. The adjustment is determined by the reporting period in a prior year. For more information, visit the payment adjustment tipsheet.

If you are eligible to participate in both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, you MUST demonstrate meaningful use to avoid the payment adjustments. You may demonstrate meaningful use under either Medicare or Medicaid.

If you are only eligible to participate in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, you are not subject to these payment adjustments.

EPs in 2014
January 1, 2014 marks many important milestones for EPs participating in the EHR Incentive Programs, including:

The start of Stage 2 for EPs who have already completed at least two years of Stage 1.
The last year that Medicare EPs can begin participation and earn an incentive.
A 3-month reporting period in 2014, regardless of the stage of meaningful use, to allow time to upgrade to 2014 certified EHR technology.
Medicare EPs beyond their first year of meaningful use must select a three-month reporting period fixed to the quarter of the calendar year.
Medicare EPs in their first year of meaningful use may select any 90-day reporting period that falls within the 2014 calendar year.
Medicaid EPs can select any 90-day reporting period that falls within the 2014 calendar year.

SUPPORT FOR WINDOWS XP ENDING SOON . . . YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE COULD BE AT RISK

Microsoft will be ending support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014.  This means that beginning on April 8, no new security patches for Windows XP will be produced – and support will no longer be offered by Microsoft for this product.

This raises three issues for your medical practice – compliance, security and operations.

As a result of the XP sunset, those computers in your practice which run Windows XP will become more and more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. This will make them effectively non-compliant with HIPAA and other privacy and security regulations.

Further, because Windows XP devices will not be patched from a security standpoint, those machines are susceptible to malware attacks and could become the channel through which harmful software is introduced into your network and other devices. This could result in harm to data, actual loss of data and the introduction of multiple other viruses once the machines are infected.

Finally, there could also be issues with applications that you use that only work on Windows XP. This could require upgrades to later versions of those applications. Similarly, some of the hardware used to run the applications may need to be updated to run newer versions of Windows. This could require updates or replacements, and in many cases moving to a “virtualized” environment may be the best long-term approach.

The bottom line is that this “sunset” has significant adverse implications for medical practices running any Windows XP machines. It is important that you work with your IT services provider to take an inventory and implement a thoughtful plan quickly. This may also be the time to consider moving to a virtualized environment to set the foundation for the future.

To learn more about the risk and implications of running XP devices, how you can quickly assess your IT infrastructure for risks, and different options for addressing the issues, click here.

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