Electronic Prescribing (eRx) - JE Part B

The Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program is a reporting program that uses a combination of incentive payments and payment adjustments to encourage electronic prescribing by eligible professionals. The program provides an incentive payment to practices with eligible professionals (identified on claims by their individual National Provider Identifier [NPI] and Tax Identification Number [TIN]) who successfully e-prescribe for covered Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) services furnished to Medicare Part B Fee-for-Service (FFS) beneficiaries (including Railroad Retirement Board and Medicare Secondary Payer). Beginning in 2012, the program also applies a payment adjustment to those eligible professionals who are not successful electronic prescribers on their Medicare Part B services.

The eRx Incentive Program is mandated by federal legislation. CMS implements the eRx Incentive Program through regulations published in the Federal Register.

The eRx incentive payments are issued annually by the Medicare contractors (Noridian) based on the incentive payment file issued by CMS.

There is no sign-up or pre-registration for individual eligible professionals to participate in the eRx Incentive Program. However, there are certain limitations on who can qualify for an eRx incentive payment. First, an eligible professional must have and use a qualified eRx system and report on his or her adoption and use of the eRx system. Second, the eligible professional must meet the criteria for a successful electronic prescriber specified by CMS for a particular reporting period. Finally, at least 10% of a successful electronic prescriber's Medicare Part B covered services must be made up of codes that appear in the denominator of the eRx measure.

Resource

• Electronic Prescribing (eRx) - CMS Overview