The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that the Quality Payment Program Hardship Exception Application for the 2017 transition year is now available. Certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) is required for participation in the advancing care information performance category of the Quality Payment Program (QPP).

Under Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) scoring, MIPS-eligible clinicians and groups may qualify for a reweighting of their advancing care information performance category score to 0 percent of the final score for 2017 if they meet one of the following criteria:

  • Insufficient internet connectivity
  • Extreme and uncontrollable circumstances
  • Lack of control over the availability of CEHRT

The normal 25 percent weighting of the advancing care information performance category would be reallocated to the quality performance category. Simply lacking CEHRT does not qualify the MIPS-eligible clinician or group for reweighting. All hardship applications are due by October 1. More information is available on this page of the CMS website.

For more articles and regular updates on legislative changes, regulatory developments and other news of interest to businesses, professionals and investors in the healthcare industry, please subscribe to Day Pitney's mailing lists.


Click here for more Healthcare Blogs from Day Pitney

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.