All posts in category Delivery System Reform

SDOH and Health Equity: Summarizing the EHRA Congressional Briefing – Part 2

Ambulatory and Health System Perspectives

By EHRA Public Policy Leadership Workgroup

Part one of this two-part blog series summarized insights around SDOH and health equity from the developer and community perspectives, which were shared during the recent virtual Congressional Briefing hosted by EHRA’s Public Policy Leadership Workgroup. Part two shares the ambulatory and health system perspectives. The presentation slides and full briefing (passcode: H@R$UZ02) are available in the “Positions and Statements” section of EHRA’s website. 

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by EHR Association on October 27, 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in Case Studies and Personal Stories, Delivery System Reform, Health Equity, Health IT Standards, Interoperability, Public Policy and Health IT, SDOH, Value of HIT
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Posted by EHR Association on October 27, 2021

https://ehrablog.org/2021/10/27/ambulatory-and-health-systems-summarizing-the-ehra-congressional-briefing/

SDOH and Health Equity: Summarizing the EHRA Congressional Briefing – Part 1

Developer and Community Perspectives

By EHRA Public Policy Leadership Workgroup

Health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH) currently play a large role in the national conversation on health care, with the Biden Administration ranking it as one of its highest priorities. Practically, however, these discussions have been underway for years.

SDOH and health equity are a public policy and care coordination challenge, one that health IT can play an important role in resolving. Consider that 80% of health is determined by non-clinical factors. However, there is a wide information gap separating healthcare organizations and the social and community agencies at the forefront of identifying and addressing these socioeconomic needs. Health IT and interoperability standards facilitate the secure, seamless exchange of patient data between these environments to improve population and individual patient health outcomes.

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by EHR Association on October 27, 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in Delivery System Reform, Electronic Clinical Quality Management, Health Equity, Health IT Standards, Interoperability, Public Policy and Health IT, SDOH
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Posted by EHR Association on October 27, 2021

https://ehrablog.org/2021/10/27/sdoh-and-health-equity-summarizing-the-ehra-congressional-briefing/

Enabling Improved Price Transparency In Healthcare

price transparEncyOn June 3, the public comment period on ONC’s NPRM implementing health IT provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act closed. These comment windows offer a unique opportunity to gain a broader perspective on the state of the health IT industry. 

Upon our review of the feedback submitted to ONC, an overwhelming trend emerged—nearly 55% of the 2,013 comments were from individual patients commenting in favor of increased price transparency in the healthcare industry. Patients shared stories of the challenges they faced in determining the cost of treatment before receiving care, and dozens expressed the shock and financial hardship they experienced when they received a bill for their care. 

In the months since the public comment window closed, we’ve seen this demand for healthcare price transparency gain attention across the industry. President Trump issued an executive order, and the Senate is considering the “Lower Health Care Costs Act,” legislation that aims to improve patient access to price information in the healthcare industry.

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by EHR Association on September 12, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Delivery System Reform, Health IT Standards, Interoperability, Public Policy and Health IT, Usability and Clinician Experience

Posted by EHR Association on September 12, 2019

https://ehrablog.org/2019/09/12/enabling-improved-price-transparency-in-healthcare/

MACRA: Then and Now

By David Heller

MACRA

How much do you know about Congress’ effort to “rein in” expenses associated with healthcare’s fee-for-service system with the passage of MACRA?

Incentivizing value-based care was the goal of the Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, aka MACRA, writes David Heller of the EHRA Public Policy Committee and Corporate Counsel for Regulatory Affairs at Greenway in an article tracing MACRA’s policy roots and offering recommendations for its future in the American University Health Law and Policy Brief.

In the article, “MACRA: Emerging from the Thicket,” Heller explains some of the reporting complexities that the Congressional authors of MACRA were trying to address.

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by EHR Association on February 27, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Delivery System Reform, Public Policy and Health IT

Posted by EHR Association on February 27, 2019

https://ehrablog.org/2019/02/27/macra-then-and-now/

Final IPPS Rule Ignores EHR Developer Concerns–Includes Impossible Measures, Will Lead to Increased Clinician Burden

By Sasha TerMaat
EHRA Vice Chair

IPPS blogOn August 2, 2018, CMS published the 2600-page pre-publication version of the 2019 IPPS Final Rule. EHRA members have begun digging into the Promoting Interoperability/Meaningful Use program, hoping to see changes based on their public comments on the proposed rule released in May. While we’re glad to see the requirement for 2015 CEHRT in 2019 confirmed, overall we’re disappointed that CMS failed to respond to many of EHRA’s comments as well as other stakeholder feedback.

In releasing the final rule less than six weeks after the public comment period closed (during which it received 1,058 comments), CMS appears to have rushed what should have been a thoughtful process. Several measures will be infeasible to program. Other measures will result in additional burden on clinicians, solely for the purpose of measurement rather than improved patient care.
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by EHR Association on August 8, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Delivery System Reform, Health IT Regulation, Health IT Standards, Opioid Crisis, Usability and Clinician Experience

Posted by EHR Association on August 8, 2018

https://ehrablog.org/2018/08/08/final-ipps-rule-ignores-ehr-developer-concerns-includes-impossible-measures-will-lead-to-increased-clinician-burden/

Improving EHR Usability by Reducing Regulatory Burdens

it is our experience that clinicians_ frustrations with EHRs are often less about the technology, and more about using it not simply for patient care but to fulfill regulation-driven dIn a speech last month, CMS Administrator Seema Verma expressed her desire for CMS “to focus on patients first.” To do this, she said, “one of our top priorities is to ease regulatory burden that is destroying the doctor-patient relationship. We want doctors to be able to deliver the best quality care to their patients.”

We applaud Administrator Verma for leading this effort to reduce regulatory burdens on healthcare providers. As regulatory requirements for data collection from clinicians directly through the EHR have increased, it has become increasingly more challenging to maintain focus on the data essential to direct patient care. (more…)

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by EHR Association on November 3, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Delivery System Reform, Health IT Regulation, Meaningful Use, Public Policy and Health IT, Usability and Clinician Experience

Posted by EHR Association on November 3, 2017

https://ehrablog.org/2017/11/03/improving-ehr-usability-by-reducing-regulatory-burdens/

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