CHIME: Streamline MU, add flexibility
Meaningful Use (MU) needs streamlining and a reduced reporting burden for provider through better aligned quality measures, said the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).
CHIME supports transitioning eligible professional to a more flexible MU compliance model, shifting away from the current pass/fail construct and finding physicians successful if they meet 75 percent or more of the requirements. Eligible hospitals should also be moved off the existing all-or-nothing approach, CHIME Board Chair Charles Christian and CHIME CEO and President Russell Branzell noted in a letter to CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt.
CHIME's comments were in reply to a request for information (RFI) from the agency regarding implementation of the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and implementation of alternative payment models for physicians. The new payment system, MIPS, was enacted earlier this year as part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which did away with the troubled sustainable growth rate used to determine physician payment.
To fulfill MU objectives, providers are required to meet multiple measures and objectives. With limited exception, failure to hit any of the regulatory thresholds is deemed a failure and puts the provider at risk of a financial penalties. In its RFI, CMS indicated a willingness to move away from pass/fail and adopt a weighted approach for physicians. CHIME supports such a move, but believes it should apply to hospitals as well.
"We have previously advocated for the removal of the pass/fail methodology of the Meaningful Use program," Christian and Branzell wrote, noting that the pass/fail methodology often pulls resources away from other critical areas, including pursuing interoperability and adopting other solutions that can advance patient care.
CHIME also encouraged CMS to reduce the reporting burden by eliminating redundant measures and data collection requirements.
"Many CHIME members submit more than 20 reports across federal, state and private sector program for various clinical quality measures each month. Hours of work and expertise are required to comply with these reporting demands and such burdens are exacerbated by a lack of technical harmonization," Christian and Branzell wrote. "The goal should be to eliminate duplicative quality measures and reporting requirements."
Read CHIME's letter.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.