The last Meaningful Use Monday post detoured from the EHR incentives to ePrescribing under MIPPA—given its importance based on the impending schedule of penalties. Because I receive ePrescribing questions on a daily basis, I thought a quick recap of ePrescribing basics might be helpful:
- Incentives and penalties:
| Year | Incentives* | Penalties* |
| 2011 | 1% | — |
| 2012 | 1% | 1%** |
| 2013 | 0.5% | 1.5%** |
| 2014 on | — | 2% |
*Percent of provider’s total Medicare Part B FFS Allowable Charges. (Incentives assume provider does not receive EHR incentive for that year.)
**Based on 2011 ePrescribing activity
- Incentives are earned per provider, and each provider must individually meet the requirements. This means that some providers within a practice might qualify for an incentive, while others might incur a penalty. (Group reporting options exist, but they are limited and require qualification.)
- Reporting is by G-Code and there is only one: Use G-8553 on the Medicare claim to report that “at least one Rx was generated and transmitted using a qualified ePrescribing system during the patient encounter.”
- Surescripts certification qualifies an ePrescribing system. (This is distinct from the ONC-certification required for meaningful use.)
- Provider eligibility:
- MD, NP, or PA with prescribing authority
- At least 100 encounters with the specified CPT codes
- Specified CPT codes must constitute at least 10% of the provider’s Medicare charges.
- To request exemption from penalties, use the following G-Codes on one Medicare claim before June 30, 2011:
- Hardship Code G-8642: Rural area with limited high-speed internet access
- Hardship Code G-8643: Limited pharmacies for ePrescribing
- G-8664: Although an eligible provider, you do not have prescribing privileges
In a future post, Meaningful Use Monday will look at ePrescribing in the context of meaningful use.
Lynn Scheps is Vice President, Government Affairs at EMR vendor SRSsoft. In this role, Lynn has been a Voice of Physicians and SRSsoft users in Washington during the formulation of the meaningful use criteria. Lynn is currently working to assist SRSsoft users interested in showing meaningful use and receiving the EHR incentive money.
