HIMSS issues gov't recommendations
ORLANDO, Fla--The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) released its Call for Action Feb. 21 for 2011/2012, summarizing its top 10 policy priorities for health IT for the 112 Congress and the Obama Administration, during its annual conference.
Each year, HIMSS creates policy principles for all stakeholders to consider for inclusion as provisions in legislation proposed by the U.S. Congress or state legislatures, or for inclusion in federal and state regulations, to foster enhanced healthcare using IT.
The HIMSS Public Policy Principles Workgroup, chaired by HIMSS member Margaret Lohnes, RN, deliberated from September to December 2010, reviewed their findings with thousands of volunteers from all HIMSS committees, communities, task forces and workgroups, and then made their recommendations to HIMSS Public Policy Committee chaired by Indranil Ganguly, vice president and CIO for CentraState Healthcare System.
Health IT is not the sole solution for broad-scale healthcare reform or transformation, according to the society; rather, health IT provides a mechanism to achieve the intent of healthcare reform: improving access to and the quality of healthcare, while lowering costs, empowering consumers in their healthcare decisions, and ensuring the privacy and security of personal health information.
The Workgroup divided up HIMSS Principles into 11 categories, adding “Equity and Access” and “Administrative Simplification” as two new categories.
Two key themes emerged in its policy discussions:
The committees and workgroups outlined the 10 top priorities for policymakers to address:
Under the Quality category, HIMSS Principle 2.4 is a new recommendation to support care coordination through an integrated healthcare community, including the healthcare consumer, where enabling technologies promote usable, efficient, transferable and seamless information flow, including improved safety, quality and processes of care delivery.
Under the Organizational Structure category, HIMSS Principle 3.4 recommends continued support for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to work collaboratively with the community of stakeholders to establish a prioritized health transformation roadmap and timeline that sets goals and priorities for healthcare improvement enabled through health IT. Also, HIMSS added that The National Coordinator should facilitate a "clearinghouse" that provides a simple, consolidated communications tool and comprehensive roadmap with supporting information on the many initiatives that impact the health IT community and the providers they serve.
Also under the Organizational Structure category, to ensure that eligibility requirements for meaningful use are clear and realistic, HIMSS Principle 3.7 recommends that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) publish criteria defining each new meaningful use stage at least 18 months before the beginning of the next stage.
Two other recommendations under the Organization Structure were the establishment of a grievance process for providers for meaningful use and the development of an open and transparent EHR certification criteria process.
Finally, under the Privacy and Security category, HIMSS Principle 5.15 recommends establishment of an informed patient identity solution. “Because the U.S. Congress has banned HHS from spending any resources to study a unique identifier (UI) solution, [we] recommend that Congress direct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study of technology options,” HIMSS stated in the Call to Action.
“2011 is going to be a key year for HIMSS to work collaboratively with policymakers in a bipartisan fashion at the federal and state level to continue the momentum transforming healthcare using IT,” said David W. Roberts, HIMSS vice president for government relations.
The complete HIMSS Call to Action recommendations are available online.
Each year, HIMSS creates policy principles for all stakeholders to consider for inclusion as provisions in legislation proposed by the U.S. Congress or state legislatures, or for inclusion in federal and state regulations, to foster enhanced healthcare using IT.
The HIMSS Public Policy Principles Workgroup, chaired by HIMSS member Margaret Lohnes, RN, deliberated from September to December 2010, reviewed their findings with thousands of volunteers from all HIMSS committees, communities, task forces and workgroups, and then made their recommendations to HIMSS Public Policy Committee chaired by Indranil Ganguly, vice president and CIO for CentraState Healthcare System.
Health IT is not the sole solution for broad-scale healthcare reform or transformation, according to the society; rather, health IT provides a mechanism to achieve the intent of healthcare reform: improving access to and the quality of healthcare, while lowering costs, empowering consumers in their healthcare decisions, and ensuring the privacy and security of personal health information.
The Workgroup divided up HIMSS Principles into 11 categories, adding “Equity and Access” and “Administrative Simplification” as two new categories.
Two key themes emerged in its policy discussions:
- Ensure that health IT remains a bipartisan issue.
- That political change at the federal or state level does not stop or impede the financial incentives for eligible providers, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals that will start to be reimbursed in 2011.
The committees and workgroups outlined the 10 top priorities for policymakers to address:
- Supporting the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) national priorities partnership;
- Ensuring a consolidated communications tool and comprehensive roadmap for meaningful use;
- Defining each new meaningful use stage at least 18 months before the beginning of the next stage;
- Establishing grievance processes for providers for meaningful use;
- Developing an open and transparent EHR certification criteria process;
- Supporting the establishment of an informed patient identity solution;
- Expanding and making permanent the current Stark exemptions and anti-kickback safe harbors for EHRs;
- Eliminating the Business Associate Agreement (BAA) requirement;
- Providing grants and other incentives to establish health IT action zones; and
- Aligning federal policy to facilitate electronic business processes.
Under the Quality category, HIMSS Principle 2.4 is a new recommendation to support care coordination through an integrated healthcare community, including the healthcare consumer, where enabling technologies promote usable, efficient, transferable and seamless information flow, including improved safety, quality and processes of care delivery.
Under the Organizational Structure category, HIMSS Principle 3.4 recommends continued support for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to work collaboratively with the community of stakeholders to establish a prioritized health transformation roadmap and timeline that sets goals and priorities for healthcare improvement enabled through health IT. Also, HIMSS added that The National Coordinator should facilitate a "clearinghouse" that provides a simple, consolidated communications tool and comprehensive roadmap with supporting information on the many initiatives that impact the health IT community and the providers they serve.
Also under the Organizational Structure category, to ensure that eligibility requirements for meaningful use are clear and realistic, HIMSS Principle 3.7 recommends that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) publish criteria defining each new meaningful use stage at least 18 months before the beginning of the next stage.
Two other recommendations under the Organization Structure were the establishment of a grievance process for providers for meaningful use and the development of an open and transparent EHR certification criteria process.
Finally, under the Privacy and Security category, HIMSS Principle 5.15 recommends establishment of an informed patient identity solution. “Because the U.S. Congress has banned HHS from spending any resources to study a unique identifier (UI) solution, [we] recommend that Congress direct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study of technology options,” HIMSS stated in the Call to Action.
“2011 is going to be a key year for HIMSS to work collaboratively with policymakers in a bipartisan fashion at the federal and state level to continue the momentum transforming healthcare using IT,” said David W. Roberts, HIMSS vice president for government relations.
The complete HIMSS Call to Action recommendations are available online.