2009 Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program Update

Keypoints:

LE will appear on remittance, indicating an incentive payment.

RX09: is the 2009 eRx incentive payments 4-digit code

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is pleased to announce that incentive payments for the 2009 Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program were made to eligible professionals who met the criteria for successful reporting.

The 2009 eRx incentive payments are currently being processed and distributed by Carriers and Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs). Distribution of the 2009 eRx incentive payments were completed by October 22, 2010.

E-prescribing incentives earned by individual participating physicians and other eligible professionals are paid as a lump-sum to the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) under which the EP’s claims were submitted. It is then up to the TIN to decide how to distribute the incentive within the practice.

Effective January 2010, CMS revised the manner in which incentive payment information is communicated to eligible professionals receiving electronic remittance advices. CMS has instructed Medicare contractors to use a new indicator of LE to indicate incentive payments instead of LS. LE will appear on the electronic remittance advice. Additionally the paper remittance advice will read “This is an eRx incentive payment.” It will not include the year and indicator LE in the paper remittance. In an effort to further clarify the type of incentive payment issued (either PQRI or eRx incentive), CMS created a 4-digit code to indicate the type of incentive and reporting year. For the 2009 eRx incentive payments, the 4-digit code is RX09. This code will be displayed on the electronic remittance advice along with the LE indicator. For example, eligible professionals will see LE to indicate an incentive payment, along with RX09 to identify that payment as the 2009 eRx incentive payment.

2009 Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program Feedback Reports

The 2009 eRx feedback reports will be available on the Physician and Other Health Care Professionals Quality Reporting Portal at http://www.qualitynet.org/pqri on the internet, starting the second week of November. TIN-level reports on the Portal require an Individuals Authorized Access to CMS Computer Services (IACS) account. Participants may also contact their Carrier or MAC to request individual NPI-level reports via an alternate feedback report fulfillment process, please visit http://www.cms.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE0922.pdf on the CMS website.

Who to Contact for Questions?

If you have questions about the status of your eRx incentive payment (during the distribution timeframe), please contact your Provider Contact Center. The Contact Center Directory is available at http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/CallCenterTollNumDirectory.zip on the CMS website.

Feel free to contact the QualityNet Help Desk with any of the following:

· Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) Portal password issues

· PQRI/eRx feedback report availability and access

· PQRI-IACS registration questions

· PQRI-IACS login issues

The QualityNet Help Desk is available Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. CST at 1-866-288-8912 or via qnetsupport@sdps.org on the internet. The QualityNet Help Desk is also available to assist with PQRI and eRx measure-specific questions.