Physicians can apply for a meaningful use hardship exemption by midnight next Tuesday, June 30 to avoid a 2016 penalty. Some of the hardship exemptions require physicians to file accompanying documentation that may be hard to compile in a single day, so it is important not to wait until the last day to file.
Certain types of physicians designated by their Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) code are not required to file for a hardship. Instead, Medicare will automatically grant a hardship exemption to the following specialties:
- Anesthesiology
- Diagnostic radiology
- Interventional radiology
- Nuclear Medicine
- Pathology
Get more information and instructions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Or contact Terri Gonzalez, Director of Practice Improvement for the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS), 919-833-3836, x123.