The Quality Payment Program Hardship Exception application for the 2017 transition year is now available on the Quality Payment Program website.
MIPS eligible clinicians and groups may qualify for a re-weighting of their Advancing Care Information (ACI) performance category score to 0% of the final score, and can submit a hardship exception application for one of the following specified reasons:
-Insufficient internet connectivity
-Extreme and uncontrollable circumstances
-Lack of control over the availability of Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT)
There are some MIPS eligible clinicians who are considered Special Status, who will be automatically re-weighted (or, exempted in the case of MIPS eligible clinicians participating in a MIPS APM) and do not need to submit a Quality Payment Program Hardship Exception Application. In addition to submitting an application via the Quality Payment Program website, clinicians may also contact the Quality Payment Program Service Center and work with a representative to verbally submit an application.
To submit an application, you will need:
-Your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) for group applications or National Provider Identifier (NPI) for individual applications
-Contact information for the person working on behalf of the individual clinician or group, including first and last name, e-mail address, and telephone number
-Selection of hardship exception category (listed above) and supplemental information.
If you’re applying for a hardship exception based on the Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstance category, you must select one of the following and provide a start and end date of when the circumstance occurred:
-Disaster (e.g., a natural disaster in which the CEHRT was damaged or destroyed)
-Practice or hospital closure
-Severe financial distress (bankruptcy or debt restructuring)
-EHR certification/vendor issues (CEHRT issues)
For More Information, please contact the Quality Payment Service Center at 1-866-288-8292 or TTY: 1-877-715-6222 or QPP@cms.hhs.gov or visit https://qpp.cms.gov/
Contact Kentucky REC at 859-323-3090. Our experts are here to help.
