CMA comments on HHS proposal to reduce health IT burden Physicians are overwhelmed with unnecessary, burdensome regulations that take time and resources away from providing quality patient care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a draft strategy designed to help reduce administrative and regulatory burden on clinicians caused by the use of health information technology (health IT) such as electronic health records (EHRs). The draft Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs was led by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), as required in the 21st Century Cures Act. The California Medical Association (CMA) this week submitted comments on the proposal, urging HHS to implement strategies that prioritize interoperability and the use of technology to improve patient care. Among CMA’s recommendations were: CMA supports standardizing and automating prior authorization processes to reduce the burden on physicians, as well as improving real-time access to payer requirements for prior authorization. ONC should require EHR vendors to design systems that are usable based on the needs of medical practice in order to receive CEHRT approval, and impose penalties when these standards are not met. ONC should strengthen CEHRT interoperability standards and utilize enforcement mechanisms to secure compliance from EHR vendors ONC should require greater consistency across EHR systems to encourage sharing of clinical data Simplify and reduce the quality measure reporting physicians are required to complete for federal programs ONC should improve its enforcement against vendors who participate in data blocking or violate other certification requirements and help develop systems that allow for automatic extraction of data measures from EHRs ONC should work with states’ existing regulatory standards to promote interoperability between PDMPs and EHRs CMA also reemphasized its strong opposition to the proposal to collapse the E/M office visit codes from eight to two for both new and established patients, and disagrees that the added documentation reduction from the code collapse-single payment proposal as envisioned by CMS will be realized. For more information, see CMA’s comments. February 4, 2019 CMA, General Electronic Health Records, Health Information Technology 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS announces it will work to reduce meaningful use reporting burden After repeated calls for changes from the American Medical Association (AMA), the California Medical Association (CMA) and other physician groups nationwide, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would address the meaningful use issues raised by providers and make changes to the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program to “reduce the reporting burden, while supporting the long term goals of the program.” CMS said it would issue new rules governing the program this spring. Beginning January 1, 2015, Medicare physicians who have not successfully attested to meaningful use of an EHR system may incur payment penalties. Last fall, CMS made a stunning announcement that while 78 percent of physicians are using an EHR, more than 50 percent of eligible physicians will face penalties under the meaningful use program in 2015. Moreover, only of half of eligible physicians participated in the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) program in 2013. By 2017, physicians could face up to 11 percent in combined payment penalties from these and other Medicare penalty programs. (For more details about the various Medicare incentive and penalty programs, see “Medicare Incentive and Penalty Programs: What physicians need to know,” available free to members in CMA’s online resource library.) In a recent letter to CMS, AMA said that the meaningful use program, which was originally “intended to increase physician use of technology to improve patient care,” was hindering physician participation by setting a strict set of one-size-fits-all requirements that forced physicians to purchase expensive EHR systems with frustratingly poor usability that resulted in interfering with patient care. AMA and CMA have called on CMS to make the meaningful use program more practical and flexible to ensure the intended improvements in patient care and practice efficiencies. The reforms include the consolidation and alignment of the quality and meaningful use programs; requiring interoperability and the exchange of information in a meaningful format and the simplification of the certification process; a reduction in penalties and reinstatement incentive payments; allowing physicians to meet no more than 10 required measures; and expanding the options for specialists. For more information about the EHR incentive programs, click here. Contact: Elizabeth McNeil, (800) 786-4262 or emcneil@cmanet.org. February 5, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, EHR, Electronic Health Records, Meaningful Use, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Need EHR Help or Guidance on EHR Incentives The Inland Empire EHR Resource Center (IEEHRC) has recently secured additional federally subsidized funding to assist Primary Care Providers with their Electronic Health Records. The IEEHRC has already assisted 600 Inland Empire providers in receiving $4,300,000 in incentive payments! Has your practice achieved Meaningful Use of your EHR and received incentive payments? Whether you are implementing your EHR or needing assistance with achieving Meaningful Use, the IEEHRC can help. The assistance for Primary Care Providers is paid for by a federally subsidized grant and will be provided at no cost to the PCPs and their staff. There is limited number of additional subsidized slots and our grant mandates the timeframe in which we will be able to assist your practice. If you are interested in receiving assistance please call immediately to see if you are eligible for assistance from the IEEHRC. The IEEHRC was formed by the San Bernardino County Medical Society, the Riverside County Medical Association, and the Inland Empire Health Plan. For more information, please call (951) 686-1825 or send an email to Kathy Thunholm, Project Director, kthunholm@ieehrc.org. February 28, 2013 EHR electronic health records, IEEHRC 0 0 Comment Read More »
