Great news--you have another week to report an e-prescribing (e-Rx)  hardship exemption if you failed to submit at least 10 e-prescriptions by the June 30, 2011 deadline, Part B News has learned.

Reporting a hardship exemption could get you out of the 1% payment penalty set to hit Jan. 1, 2012, if it’s approved by CMS. Remember: You report an exemption via CMS’s website at www.qualitynet.org/portal/server.pt/community/communications_support_system/234.

TIP: Valid exemptions range from being in an area with no broadband Internet to being tied up with electronic health record (EHR) adoption, to being a provider who doesn’t prescribe much or has legal prohibitions (often the case for narcotic drugs). It’s not a lot of extra time, but CMS decided to grant the extension due to bugs with the website that were recently fixed (PBN 10/10/11).

Your Medicare payments will fall by 27.4% in 2012, under a conversion factor of $24.6712, which is slightly less than the 29.5% cut projected by CMS earlier under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The difference is due to Medicare costs growing slightly slower than expected, the agency says. Of course, this 27.4% cut isn’t the final word, because Congress has always stepped in at the last minute to avert SGR cuts.

You only have 12 hours to get your e-prescribing (e-Rx) exemption request in! But even if you are ready to apply you may run into problems in the eleventh hour as many of your peers are still having problems accessing the e-Rx exemption website.

Here are some troubleshooting steps straight from CMS to help you submit your hardship exemption by 11:59pm EST tonight and avoid a 1% pay hit in 2012:

• In the internet browser, select Tools/Internet Options/Advanced. 
• Scroll down toward the bottom and locate the “Use TLS 1.0” choice. 
• Place a checkmark in the “Use TLS 1.0.” 
• Click the “OK” box.
• Attempt to access the site again.

You now have official answers from CMS on some of the trickiest meaningful use questions around, including just how much clinical data you need to record and how to record measures for providers who use electronic health records (EHRs) in multiple locations. The answers, some complete, some barely helpful, are now on CMS’s frequently asked questions (FAQ) page at https://questions.cms.hhs.gov/. Here’s a rundown on the latest ones for meaningful use.

HHS will dole out $42 million in health reform funds to 500 federally qualified health centers (FQHC) over three years to help improve care in the Advanced Primary Care Practice (APCP) demo program, HHS announced in an Oct. 24 news release.

CMS will pay these clinics monthly per primary care patient based on their performance, such as chronic disease management, and, in return, clinics are expected to use the funds to extend their hours, staff needs to accommodate same-day appointments and serve urgent care patients.