Physician Penalties For Missing Meaningful Use Metrics Near

Physicians who have not transitioned to electronic health records or reported their metrics to the CMS will start to face penalties beginning next year, according to an article by Medical Economics.

The article reports, “two government programs targeted specifically at primary care —the Medicare Primary Care incentive program and the Medicare/Medicaid parity program, are scheduled to expire in the near future.” Physicians could face a 1% cut in their Medicare reimbursements if they do not meet their “meaningful use of electronic health records.” These rates will increase by 1% each year until they hit 5% in 2019.

Similarly, those who do not report their PQRS data will face a 1.5% penalty to their Medicare reimbursements.

The “‘carrot and stick’” policy reflects CMS’ long-term goals of encouraging physicians to make greater use of health information technology, and of moving the healthcare system away from rewarding physicians based on the volume of services they perform and towards an emphasis on quality and outcomes.”

Summary By MedicalGroups.com

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