February 11, 2013 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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Direction The federal Health IT Policy Committee met for their monthly meeting this past week in Washington and Meaningful Use Stage 3 was back on the agenda. In under a month, ONC staff culled through more than 500 comments submitted to the Policy Committee that underscored concerns regarding the timing of Stage 3, the growing list of competing priorities for providers and a feeling that more interoperability limitations needed to be addressed.
February 5, 2013 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy announced that she will be leaving the Agency after ten years on the job. Meanwhile, several healthcare IT practitioners, academics and policymakers met in Washington this week during a joint meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee and Health IT Standards Committee.
January 29, 2013 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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Recently, the long-awaited updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) were released. Most observers agree that provisions meant to move business associates and subcontractors into the world of covered entities will lead to more accountability of protected health information. But some worry that the rule does not clarify the emerging role of HIEs and population health management initiatives.
January 22, 2013 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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The Federal Health IT Policy Committee has been working for months on developing measures and objectives for Stage 3 Meaningful Use and in November they shared those thoughts with the wider health IT community of stakeholders for input. Recently, CHIME submitted a response to the HIT Policy Committee, urging caution about the assumed pace and practicality of those Stage 3 measures.
January 15, 2013 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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According to officials at CMS, December was the single largest monthly payout of EHR incentives in the program’s history. Roughly $1.2 billion went to eligible hospitals and eligible physicians in December, bringing the total estimated payout to $10.3 billion. The bulk of the payments went to EHs, who received $1 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. EPs received $175 million in Medicare payments and $80 million in Medicaid payments.
December 11, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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The Health IT Policy Committee met for their monthly meeting this week in Washington and during an extensive review and update on projects and programs, ONC announced they were taking preliminary steps to establish a subcommittee on HIT and ACOs. The subcommittee would be charged with making recommendations to the HITPC on how health IT can support the business needs of accountable care models.
December 4, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intends to waive certain quality data submission and validation requirements for hospitals in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island counties designated “major disaster” areas for Hurricane Sandy by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, CMS announced recently.
November 20, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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A House subcommittee on Science, Space and Technology held a hearing this week on Meaningful Use. The focus on Meaningful Use was to ask the question, "has the program truly been meaningful?" The response from all witness, which included ONC National Coordinator Dr. Farzad Mostashari and Intermountain VP & CIO Marc Probst, was a resounding "Yes."
November 12, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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While the power dynamics will appear similar in the 113th Congress as it did in the 112th Congress, the environment in which the new Congress operates looks entirely different. Sequestration and other fragments of the "fiscal cliff" must be dealt with over the next several weeks and it would seem probable that Republicans look to use parts of the ACA as bargaining chips to get the bigger deal done.
November 5, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has moved into the next stage of what it’s simply calling the E-Consent Trial. The purpose of the trial is largely focused on patient education about consent options and ways to electronically capture that consent choice.
October 29, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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News broke last week during CHIME’s Fall Forum that the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) had circulated a survey to hospitals that had demonstrated Meaningful Use. The OIG's review of the incentive program and potentially inappropriate Medicare payments related to EHR use are both included in its recently issued fiscal 2013 work plan, according to public officials.
October 16, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
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CHIME members voiced their concern this week with congressional proposals to “immediately suspend” EHR incentive payments. In an Oct. 4 letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI-4), Energy & Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI-6), Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Chair Wally Herger (R-CA-2) and Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Chair Joe Pitts (R-PA-16) voice concern that the incentive payments were being wasted because many providers continue to lack interoperability.
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