I also got the letter. Here it is:
Important Information from
Centricity™ Practice Solution
CMS Extends 2014 Meaningful Use and PQRS Deadlines to March 20
February 25, 2015
Dear Centricity™ Customer:
We know many of you have had success attesting to MU and submitting PQRS data. For those of you still working towards the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) deadlines, today CMS issued an extension of the submission deadline for the Medicare Meaningful Use and PQRS EHR-based (customer direct or submission through GE) programs. Please check with your state MU program to confirm Medicaid submission dates. The submission deadline has been extended to March 20, 2015 at 11:59pm EST for Meaningful Use and March 20, 2015 at 8:00pm EST for PQRS. (Announcement copied at end of note). Despite this revised timeframe, we encourage customers who are still working on MU and PQRS to continue proceeding with urgency. For those customers that have not yet attested to MU or submitted for PQRS, we are available for help. If you need to reach us, please call the Customer Center support desk at 888-436-8491 (Option 2, Option 3). We expect heavy traffic on the CMS portals around the attestation deadline, so we urge you to submit as soon as you’re ready. CMS also suggests attesting for meaningful use during non-peak hours, such as evenings and weekends. We applaud your efforts and look forward to our continued success together in 2015.
Sincerely, Peter Kinhan Vice President & General Manager, Ambulatory Practice Solutions GE Healthcare IT
Centricity Practice Solution Services Team
T 888-436-8491 option 1
F 214-889-5106
Please do not reply directly to this mailing. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to unsubscribe from this distribution list, contact Centricity Services by e-mail at [email protected] or by calling 1-888-436-8491.
CMS Extends 2014 Attestation Deadline for Medicare Eligible Professionals to March 20, 2015
Eligible professionals now have until 11:59 pm ET on March 20, 2015, to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program 2014 reporting year. CMS extended the deadline to allow providers extra time to submit their meaningful use data. CMS continues to urge providers to begin attesting for 2014 as soon as they can. This extension also allows eligible professionals, who have not already used their one “switch,” to switch programs (from Medicare to Medicaid, or vice versa) for the 2014 payment year until 11:59 p.m. ET on March 20, 2015. After that time, eligible professionals will no longer be able to switch programs. Medicare eligible professionals must attest to meaningful use every year to receive an incentive and avoid a payment adjustment. Providers who successfully attest for the 2014 program year will: • Receive an incentive payment • http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/PaymentAdj_HardshipExcepTipSheetforEP.pd f">Avoid the Medicare payment adjustment, which will be applied January 1, 2016 Note: The Medicare extension does not affect deadlines for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. Additionally, the EHR reporting option for PQRS has been extended until March 20, 2015 (see below). Submit your data to the https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/RegistrationandAttestation.htm l">Registration and Attestation System, which includes http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-09-04/pdf/2014-21021.pd f">2014 Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) Flexibility Rule options. Tips for speed: • Attest during non-peak hours, such as evenings and weekends • Start now to: • Check that your information is up to date • Begin entering your 2014 data To learn more, see the http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/EducationalMaterials.htm l">Educational Resources on the http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/index.htm l">CMS EHR Incentive Programs website. For help, call the EHR Information Center: 1-888-734-6433; TTY for people with hearing impairments: 1-888-734-6563; Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET. CMS also Announces Extension for EPs participating in PQRS via EHR and QCDR (QRDA III format). CMS is also pleased to announce that the submission deadlines for the PQRS reporting methods below have been extended. All other submission timeframes for other PQRS reporting methods remain the same. The new deadline is March 20, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. ET for the following submission methods: • EHR Direct or Data Submission Vendor that is certified EHR technology (CEHRT) • Qualified clinical data registries (QCDRs) (using QRDA III format) reporting for PQRS and the clinical quality measure (CQM) component of meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program An Individuals Authorized Access to CMS Computer Services (IACS) account with the “PQRS Submitter Role” is required for these PQRS data submission methods. Please see the https://www.qualitynet.org/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_207_374_212_229_43/http%3B/pdpqap42-app.sdps.org%3B7087/publishedcontent/publish/pqri_content/pqri_guest_community/userrefguide.htm l">IACS Quick Reference Guides for specifics. PQRS provides an incentive payment to individual eligible professionals (EPs) and group practices that satisfactorily participate or satisfactorily report data on quality measures for covered Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) services. Additionally, those who do not meet the 2014 PQRS reporting requirements will be subject to a negative payment adjustment on all Medicare Part B PFS services rendered in 2016. Note: The deadline listed above does apply to individual EPs and group practices participating in other CMS programs such as the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative that are utilizing the reporting methods listed above. For questions, please contact the QualityNet Help Desk 1-866-288-8912 or via email at [email protected] from 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. CT. Complete information about PQRS is available at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/PQRS/index.htm l"> http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/PQRS/index.html
Posted : February 27, 2015 2:46 am
