How are Meaningful Use Penalties Affecting Physicians?

Meaningful Use Penalties Affecting Physicians

Despite an EHR Incentive Program a large number of eligible providers still did not attest to Meaningful Use standards. Penalties can range from $1-$2000 or even higher in some cases.

Meaningful Use Incentive Program

When the meaningful use program was first introduced, it was made clear to physicians that they would be facing penalties if they failed to meet all of the requirements, and now, the time has come.

Beginning in January, more than 250,000 eligible providers (EPs) who did not attest to MU in 2013 had their Medicare reimbursements reduced by 1%. In addition, the 28,000 providers who did not meet e-prescribing standards faced a further 2% penalty on top of the 1% for MU. Those affected were informed beginning in December and had until the end of February to make an appeal.

The objective of the EHR Incentive Program was to encourage physicians to adopt electronic health records while providing incentive payments to help manage the cost of implementation and maintenance.

Now, many are worried that the meaningful use standards are too unforgiving. Several physician organizations have made requests for more flexible standards to give physicians a better chance of attestation. HIMSS is still working to convince the government to reduce the reporting period to 90 days rather than one year. In October, the American Medical Association suggested a 50% threshold for penalties and a 75%threshold for earning incentives.

The concern here is that if the program is not modified, it could become detrimental to its own cause. Over half of all EPs will be facing meaningful use penalties this year.

  • 34% will face penalties between $1-$250
  • 21% will face penalties between $250-$1000
  • 14% will face penalties between $1000-$2000
  • 31% will face penalties of $2000 or greater

While the breakdown shows that the majority of them (69%) will have payment adjustments less than $2,000, the penalties will only increase if providers are not able to attest to meaningful use.

Over 75% of EPs were unable to attest in 2014 and will be facing meaningful use penalties in the future. By 2019, reimbursements could be reduced by up to 5%, adding up to thousands of dollars.

It is argued that the meaningful use program has not done much to improve patient care but rather has had a negative effect on the practices themselves. According to the AMA, “the one-size-fits-all approach, that has not been proven to improve quality, has made it difficult for physicians to take part.” While the penalties are meant to encourage physicians to better utilize their EHR software, the program requirements, and the severity of the penalties are not helping the situation.

The 2015 deadline has been extended until March 20th. Those who do not achieve meaningful use attestation this year will be facing penalties in 2017.

Share This Post

Schedule a Demo

Want to learn more about the in-depth features of PrognoCIS EHR?

More To Explore

Please fill in your details, we look forward to connecting with you.

To select multiple Product of interest press CTRL + Click
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

Please fill in your details, we look forward to connecting with you.

Please fill in your details with the best contact email and phone number.
We look forward to connecting with you.

* These fields are required.

PrognoCIS Demo

We would like to invite you to take a demonstration of PrognoCIS EHR to fully appreciate the depth of content, features and simplicity of use.

Please choose your preferred method of contact.

Thank you. The whitepaper has been sent to your email. You can also click the button below to download it.

Experience
the Power of PrognoCIS EHR

Contact Us

All our promotional offers are as individual and unique as the practices and clinics we support.

We look forward to exploring the potential benefits and offers prognoCIS has for you.

Please fill in your details with the best contact email and phone number.

All our promotional offers are as individual and unique as the practices and clinics we support.

We look forward to exploring the potential benefits and offers prognoCIS has for you.

Please fill in your details with the best contact email and phone number.

Need Help?
We're Here To Assist You

Would you like to see an example of this?


Feel free to contact us, and I will be more than happy to answer all of your questions.

Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

PrognoCIS Demo

We would like to invite you to take a full demonstration of PrognoCIS EHR to fully appreciate the depth of content, features and simplicity of use.

Choose your preferred method of contact

PrognoCIS-Harris Logo