D.C. Report: Congressional Panel Asks 'Is Meaningful Use, Meaningful?'

Congresswoman, Industry Await HHS Study on Health IT Safety In November 2011 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report entitled, Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care.  This report highlighted how some of the complexities associated with EHRs have introduced new risks into the healthcare system.  In a blog post after its publication, Dr. Farzad Mostashari said, “The report also highlights the importance of health IT to continuously improving health care quality and safety by rapidly and reliably flagging potential patient safety risks and preventing adverse events in the clinical setting.”  The IOM mandated a full report be published by HHS regarding its approach to patient safety and health IT by the end of November 2012.  While HHS has nearly half a month still to produce the report, some on Capitol Hill are getting impatient.  In a letter sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this week, North Carolina Republican Renee Ellmers said, “after the one year anniversary of the IOM’s report, we have heard nothing from the Department…Meanwhile, we continue to see media reports of patient safety risks related to health IT.”

CHIME Advocacy will continue to monitor the pending HHS response to the IOM report and will provide updates as they occur.

ACOs and CMS Innovation Center Initiatives on the March, Official Says According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services director Richard Gilfillan, the number of accountable care organizations (ACOs) could double in January.  Gilfillan told a crowd gathered at the National Business Coalition on Health in Washington this week that CMS has about 150 ACOs now and they expect that number to rise as high as 300 in the coming year.  Director Gilfillan also detailed a number of other initiatives being undertaken at the CMS Innovation Center, including the prospect of 30 additional sites added to the community based care transition program; updates for the State Innovation Models and the announcement of HHS External Innovation Fellows.  The Director promised a hand full of announcements about the Innovation Center’s portfolio over the next few weeks.  “There’s a lot going on,” Gilfillan said.