HIMSS14 speakers address mandates, innovation and more

HIMSS14 was a whirlwind of activity amid the relaxing setting of warm breezes and palm trees. The buzz was all about meeting the requirements of federal mandates, optimizing EHR systems and continuing to innovate to improve healthcare and reduce costs.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilynn Tavenner offered the healthcare community no relief from looming compliance dates.

Referencing ICD-10 implementation, she said during her keynote address at HIMSS14, “There are no more delays and the system will go live on Oct. 1. Let's face it. We've delayed this several times and it's time to move on.”

CMS does plan to be more flexible regarding hardship exemptions for providers working to meet Meaningful Use deadlines.  

Tavenner said she has spent the last four years on health IT and, in a nod to healthcare.gov woes, “learned about projects that take more time, cost more money and need more resources. I am sympathetic to that.”

The true cost of healthcare can’t be understood until people have access to the system and those who need more assistance are identified so CMS can drive its resources appropriately, she said. The work already completed is starting to yield significant results. National healthcare expenditure is at an all-time low, she noted, and outcomes are improving with fewer adverse events and reduced 30-day hospital readmission rates, among other encouraging trends.

Tavenner said CMS is willing, on a case-by-case basis, to consider applications for “hardship exemptions.” Even with these exemptions, she said CMS expects all Stage 2 providers to fully meet all Stage 2 criteria by 2015 while still encouraging everyone else eligible to meet them this year.

The time demands of such federal mandates “drive my innovation push,” said Lyle Berkowitz, MD, associate CMIO of Northwestern Medicine, delivering the keynote address at the HIMSS14 Innovation.

Innovation can be big or small, complex or simple, Berkowitz said. “The important thing is how big an impact it has on the problem you’re facing.”

Innovation requires a different way of thinking, he said, and has its own mantras. For example, “little bets make big wins.” Innovators must learn and build up. They also should fail early, fail often and fail cheaply. In other words, innovators should take risks early on when there is little at risk.  

“Embrace innovative thinking,” Berkowitz said. “Explore new processes and tools. Take a safari outside of healthcare and look at what’s being done.”

Hopefully, you found the conference rich in insight and expertise to drive efforts at your own facility.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor