Verona, WI—Epic today announced it will be the first major HIT vendor to enable its customers to receive lucrative MU Stage 2 hardship exemptions for “EHR Vendor Issues” from CMS. At the HIMSS annual conference, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said the agency would offer more flexibility in granting one-year exemptions for eligible hospitals and providers. In order to simplify the claims process, Epic will discontinue Meaningful Use support effective immediately and until further notice.

In a statement, Epic President Carl Dvorak acknowledged that some might view the move as a step backward, but defended the decision saying, “Our compass points to whatever will make our customers successful. We were first to be certified. We have the most successful attestations. We need to be the first to enable our customers to get these exemptions too… whatever it takes.”

Epic is working around the clock to design a reliable process for un-supporting MU guidelines. However, because the deadline for hospitals to apply is midnight, April 1, Epic is also exploring methods not related to the EHR that might help its clients quickly experience hardship in one of these CMS-approved categories:

• Lack of infrastructure;
• Unforseen/uncontrollable circumstances;
• Lack of control over the availability of certified EHR technology; and
• Lack of face-to-face interactions.

Says Dvorak, “It’s not clear yet whether not answering the phone is going to get the job done. But we’re trying it. I mean not trying. You get the idea.”

Dvorak added that customers who wish to assure “EHR-vendor Issues” hardship today can use one of two workarounds: either set your patient masterfile security settings to “public” or snip the red wire on your webserver.