MIPS Special Status Clinicians and Hardship Exception Application
Certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) is required for participation in the Advancing Care Information (ACI) category of the Quality Payment Program (QPP). MIPS-eligible clinicians may qualify for reweighting of their performance score by submitting a QPP Hardship Exception Application. Applications for exceptions must cite one of the following specified reasons:
- Insufficient Internet connectivity
- Extreme and uncontrollable circumstances
- Lack of control over the availability of CEHRT
MIPS-eligible clinicians that are considered “Special Status” will be automatically reweighted (or exempted) and do not need to submit a QQPP Hardship Exception Application. For 2017, "Special Status" clinicians include the following:
- Hospital-based MIPS-eligible clinicians
- Physician Assistants
- Nurse Practitioners
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
- Non-patient facing clinicians
More information on the Hardship Exception Application and Special Status clinicians can be found on CMS’ ACI Homepage. The Hardship Exception Application can be found here. Clinicians may also contact the QPP Service Center to verbally submit an application by calling 1-866-288-8292.