The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering you more time if you missed the June 30 deadline to file for a Medicare e-prescribing hardship and avoid a 1.5 percent penalty in 2013. Please note that this is for the 2013 e-prescribing payment adjustment only. Hardship exemption requests for the 2014 payment adjustment will be accepted during a separate time period later in 2013.

If you would like to file a hardship exemption but did not do so before June 30, you now have until Jan. 31, 2013, to file. Current hardship exemptions include:

• Inability to e-prescribe due to state, federal or local law/regulation
• Fewer than 100 prescriptions from Jan. 1, 2012, to June 30, 2012
• A rural area practice without sufficient high-speed Internet access
• Insufficient pharmacies capable of e-prescribing

For additional information and resources, visit the CMS website. If you need assistance submitting a hardship exemption request, contact the QualityNet Help Desk at (866) 288-8912 (TTY 1 (877) 715-6222) or via email, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST.

Final fee schedule published
The final 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule appears in the Federal Register of Nov. 16 and will take effect Jan. 1. It contains CPT codes for transitional care management and increases the size of groups affected by the initial value-based modifier policy.

Find more information about the final physician fee schedule here.