New Certification Criteria for APMs–Is This the Right Approach?

CMS and ONC are considering tying the new Alternative Payment Models (APM) being designed per the MACRA legislation to prescriptive criteria for “use” of certified EHR technology, and considering development of new certification criteria specifically created for APMs.  In doing so, do they risk going beyond congressional intent for the APM program and stifling innovation by imposing requirements on health IT beyond what is sought in the market, perhaps pursuing a strategy that may not be the best way to accomplish their end-goals – the rapid shift to value-based reimbursement and more integrated care?

Read “Health IT, Value-Based Payment, and Innovation: Let’s Get it Right” by Mark Segal, PhD (EHRA Chair Emeritus and Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs for GE Healthcare IT) on the GE blog page.

Meaningful Use Stage 3 Is Here and We’re Ready to Respond

We recently saw the release of the 732 pages of the CMS Stage 3 Meaningful Use Proposed Rule and ONC’s Proposed Rule on 2015 Edition Certification. The EHRA Meaningful Use and Certification Workgroups have been gearing up to review and comment on these rules for a while so we have already started looking at the eight proposed objectives and 68 proposed certification criteria.

The scope of what is proposed for certification in this NPRM goes beyond what is proposed to be part of the Meaningful Use program, so other EHRA workgroups are also focused on reviewing the material pertinent to their areas of expertise.  We’re committed to detailed review and developing EHRA’s responses for submission by the May 29th deadline.

Our work depends on the deep expertise of EHRA members and their users!  We strongly encourage your involvement. You’ll have the opportunity to learn from the insights of industry experts in our educational calls, discussions, and consensus based positioning. Participating in EHRA’s work will give you an advantage when working on your own company’s feedback.  Also, you’ll be well positioned to engage your users in what the new proposals might mean for their practices and to encourage them to participate in the public comment process.

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Is federal regulation of health IT going to ease up to allow for more innovation?

(July 14, 2014) Read EHRA Chair Mark Segal’s blog post on how he sees regulators responding to persistent requests from the private sector and a variety of stakeholder organizations (including EHRA) to design Stage 3 of the meaningful use incentive program to build on lessons learned from Stages 1 and 2, and focus on interoperability and alignment of quality measures and reporting across government programs.

 

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    Kasey Nicholoff
    staff @ ehra.org

    Amanda Patanow
    Communications and Media
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