Medicare diagnostic labs seek exemption from EHR penalties

House legislators are asking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to eliminate penalties on Medicare diagnostic labs that do not update their EHRs, reports The Hill.

Under healthcare reform law, Medicare providers who do not adopt EHRs are subject to reimbursement cuts.

A letter submitted to CMS by 89 House representatives argued that pathologists rarely interact with patients’ EHRs and requiring them to update their systems is unnecessarily and costly, according to the article. Instead, their work focuses on analyzing patient specimens and generating test results.

The College of American Pathologists, however, noted that the agency has exempted pathologists from penalties next year, but association members are worried about what will happen when the waiver expires.

“The Medicare agency has not indicated if it will extend the hardship exception to pathologists in subsequent years. Further, the CMS has stated that pathologists and other physicians should not expect relief from future penalties,” according to a statement from CAP.

In the meantime, Reps. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) have proposed legislation, the Health Information Technology Reform Act, which would shield pathologists from EHR penalties.