Your peers have fallen behind the ICD-10 timeline and are in danger of not being ready for the drop-dead Oct. 1, 2013 implementation date, according to a recent survey conducted by the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) (PBN 10/3/11).

The study, which was released in August and compiled responses from providers, vendors, payers and clearinghouses, suggests that despite progress is being made toward compliance, the “industry is not keeping up with milestones,” the study says, meaning providers; payers and vendors alike are at risk for not being able to test before October 2013.

As a DecisionHealth customer, we’re inviting you to become part of the daily conversation surrounding health care. Beginning November 15th, you’ll get a daily email in your inbox early each morning at no cost to you. It’s the perfect way to quickly keep up with news affecting reimbursement, regulatory compliance and operating costs for health services providers.

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.