In 2009, Medicare introduced an e-prescribing program that encourages physicians to electronically transmit their prescriptions. The e-prescribing program provides payment incentives for physicians who e-prescribe and payment penalties for physicians who do not. Starting in 2012, Medicare will impose a 1 percent payment reduction penalty on all Medicare allowed charges for eligible professionals who do not electronically transmit their prescriptions. The penalty increases to 1.5 percent in 2013 and 2 percent in 2014.

The 2012 payment reduction penalty will be determined by e-prescribing activity between January 1 and June 30, 2011. To avoid the penalty in 2012, eligible professionals must report e-prescribing activity using measure code G8553 for at least 10 eligible outpatient visits via claims submission. This is true even for physicians who are already reporting through an electronic health record system.

For more information, see CMA’s e-prescribing guide, “Medicare Electronic Prescribing Overview: Payment Incentives and Payment Reductions.”

Contact: Michele Kelly, (213) 226-0338 or mkelly@cmanet.org.

NEPSI – www.nationalerx.com

FREE electronic prescribing…for every physician in America.

The National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) is a joint project of dedicated organizations that each play a unique role in resolving the current crisis in preventable medication errors.

Jeffrey L. Rosenberg, MD

President Elect
Thomas F. Mitts, MD

Vice President
Robert A. Hardesty, MD

Secretary
Andrew J. Kaczynski, MD

Treasurer
Steven A. Teitelbaum, MD

Parliamentarian
William Umansky, MD

Historian
Hale Tolleth, MD

Immediate Past President
Lars P. Enevoldsen, MD

Past President
Geoffrey R. Keyes, MD

Executive Director
Christine Pahl

Councilors – North

Donald W. Hause, MD

Gordon K. Lee, MD

Michael S. Wong, MD

Terry J. Zimmerman, MD

Councilors – South

Scott W. Barttelbort, MD

Lynn L.C. Jeffers, MD

Susan Kaweski, MD

William S. Umansky, MD