CMS Announces 2011 eRx Incentive Program Final Rule

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Changes to the Medicare Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program for Calendar Year 2011.

Section 132 of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) required the Secretary to establish a new reporting program for eligible professionals who are successful electronic prescribers as defined by MIPPA, beginning on January 1, 2009. While the eRx Incentive Program has similarities in structure and processes to the Physician Quality Reporting System (formerly the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative or PQRI), this program is a separate program with distinct reporting requirements and associated incentive payments and payment adjustments.

In addition to the electronic prescribing incentive payment, MIPPA called for a Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) payment adjustment that will apply beginning in January 2012 to eligible professionals who are not successful electronic prescribers, as defined in the Calendar Year (CY) 2011 MPFS final rule. For eligible professionals who are subject to the 2012 eRx payment adjustment, the fee schedule amount for covered professional services furnished by eligible professionals during the year shall be 1 percent less than the fee schedule amount that would otherwise apply for 2012. The potential MPFS reductions in the future are a 1.5 percent reduction for 2013 and 2.0 percent reduction for 2014.

The final rule can be found at http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-22629_PI.pdf.

For more information about this announcement, read the http://blog.cms.gov/2011/08/31/greater-flexibility-in-e-prescribing-means-greater-success/

Source: CMS News Release