Hardship Exception Deadline July 1, 2016

Eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) that wish to use the streamlined hardship exception application must submit their application by July 1, 2016. The streamlined hardship applications reduce the amount of information that EPs, eligible hospitals, and CAHs must submit to apply for an exception. The new applications and instructions for a hardship exception from the Medicare Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program 2017 payment adjustment are available below.

This new, streamlined application process is the result of PAMPA, which established that the Secretary may consider hardship exceptions for “categories” of EPs, eligible hospitals, and CAHs that were identified on CMS’ website as of December 15, 2015. Prior to this law, CMS was required to review all applications on a “case-by-case” basis.

Medicare EHR Hardship Exception Instructions
Medicare EHR Hardship Exception Application