Washington Debrief: Lawmakers Want Ideas on Medicare Payment Changes

In June 2012, CHIME submitted comments in responding to an ONC call for information on how best to move forward with nationwide health information exchange governance policies.  The ONC plan would have created “conditions for trusted exchange” meant to address various governance elements, including conditions meant to protect personal health information, technical standards and business practices.  After receiving comment from health stakeholders, including CHIME, cautioning against a new HIE regulatory regime, ONC decided not to move forward with a proposed rule.  Instead, the agency published a Governance Framework for Trusted Electronic Health Information Exchange.  “The Governance Framework reflects what matters most to ONC when it comes to national health information exchange governance and the principles in which ONC believes.  We’ve published this framework to provide a common foundation for all types of governance models.”  The Governance Framework contains many of the same themes listed in the earlier document, without the regulatory burdens previously envisioned.  The four key categories of principles discussed in the Governance Framework include Trust Principles, Business Principles, Technical Principles and Organizational Principles.

CHIME Hosts Congressional Staff at Inaugural Public Policy Forum

On Wednesday, CHIME welcomed over 70 individuals representing House and Senate offices, federal agency officials and the Washington Health IT community for its inaugural Capitol Hill Public Policy Forum. With a focus on accountable care and hospital readiness for Stage 2 Meaningful Use, CHIME members Pamela Arora, Children’s Medical Center Dallas; Charles (Chuck) Christian, St. Francis Hospital; Neal Ganguly, CentraState Healthcare System; Susan Heichert, Allina Hospitals and Clinics; Randy McCleese, St. Claire Regional Medical Center and Albert Oriol, Rady Children’s Hospital articulated the challenges of implementing Incentive Program requirements while continuing to deliver patient care.  CEO Russ Branzell moderated the forum and engaged the audience on a range of issues, including the challenges and opportunities hospitals face as they transition to value-based programs.  In describing her experience in Minneapolis, Allina CIO Susan Heichert said that other CIOs in the region decided they would compete on quality, but not on data.  This led Allina to make their lab order sets available to other providers for free.  In discussing Meaningful Use, Branzell outlined CHIME’s policy position that more time was needed to “optimize the opportunity for success.”  CHIME recently stated to Senators in Washington that a 12-month extension of Stage 2 Meaningful Use was needed to allow and encourage providers to meet Stage 2, thus realizing potential benefits of 2014 edition technology and interoperability.