Pathologists Exempt From 2015 Meaningful Use Penalty

Pathologists will automatically be exempt from electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use (MU) adjustments in 2015, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS recently released its 15-page application for physicians unable to meet federal requirements for demonstrating MU of an EHR by 2014 (http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/HardshipException_EP_Application.pdf). Starting in 2015, CMS penalizes eligible physicians for not using a certified EHR and achieving objectives such as reporting clinical quality metrics electronically. The agency has granted the automatic hardship exception to five specialties, including pathology. The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has long advocated that pathologists should be exempt from MU penalties, arguing that pathologists have little control over whether there is certified EHR technology at their practice location and that the vast majority of objectives are outside the scope of pathology practice. While CAP supports the exemption for 2015, the college is seeking a longer-term exemption through 2019. “We urge CMS to continue the automatic granting of the significant hardship exception for pathologists for the full five years allowed under statute,” CAP said in comments to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The MU penalty for 2015 reduces Medicare payment […]