CMS extends certain EHR, quality reporting deadlines for eligible professionals

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today extended to March 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET the deadline for physicians and other eligible professionals to attest to meaningful use of electronic health records for calendar year 2014 under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. The original deadline was Feb. 28. Medicare eligible professionals that did not successfully demonstrate meaningful use in 2014 and do not receive a 2016 hardship exception will have payment adjustments applied beginning Jan. 1, 2016. For more information, see CMS’s payment adjustment tipsheet. EPs who have not already used their one opportunity to switch between the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs also have through March 20 to switch between the programs for the 2014 payment year, after which they will no longer be able to switch programs. CMS also extended to March 20 at 8 p.m. ET the deadline for submitting 2014 claims data to the Physician Quality Reporting System through EHR Direct, vendors using certified EHR technology, or qualified clinical data registries reporting for PQRS and the clinical quality component of meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.