Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, payment adjustments are made to Medicare-eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals ("Eligible Hospitals") that are not meaningful users of certified electronic health record technology under the EHR Incentive Programs (now called the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Programs). An Eligible Hospital may be exempt from this Medicare penalty if it can show that demonstrating meaningful use would result in a significant hardship. Significant hardship is defined as circumstances beyond the Eligible Hospital's control which significantly impaired the Eligible Hospital's ability to meet the meaningful use requirements.
To be considered for an exception and avoid a payment adjustment in 2019, an Eligible Hospital must complete the hardship exception application found on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website and provide proof of hardship. The completed application and all support documentation must be attached to an email and sent to ehrhardship@cms.hhs.gov by July 1, 2018. If approved, the hardship exception is valid for only one payment year.
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