The CMS is extending the deadline for physicians and other eligible professionals to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare EHR incentive program for the 2013 reporting year and is offering some hospitals a second chance at receiving payment—as well as possible relief from the program's 2015 penalties for failing to comply in 2013.
The new deadline for physicians is 11:59 p.m. March 31, pushed back from Feb. 28. The criteria still must have been met by Dec. 31, 2013, the end of the reporting period for the incentive payments.
“This extension will allow more time for providers to submit their meaningful-use data and receive an incentive payment for the 2013 program year, as well as avoid the 2015 payment adjustment,” the CMS said in a news release.