CMS Releases Specifications for E-Prescribing Measure

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a specifications document for the E-Prescribing measure, which will be used to determine whether an eligible professional is a successful e-prescriber for the 2009 reporting period. 

The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) provides for physicians and other eligible professionals, who meet Federal requirements as successful e-prescribers between 2009 and 2013, to receive incentive payments from the Medicare program.  The incentive payments will be set at 2 percent for 2009 and 2010, 1 percent for 2011 and 2012, and 0.5 percent for 2013.  However, the MIPPA provides for a penalty (in the form of a percentage reduction in Medicare physician fee schedule payments) to arise in 2012 for not successfully satisfying e-prescribing requirements.

For more information on the E-Prescribing Incentive Program, see CMS's Electronic Prescribing Incentive Fact Sheet, Medicare's Practical Guide to the E-Prescribing Incentive Program and the E-Prescribing Incentive Program page of the CMS website.