HIMSS Webinar: PPACA helps nationalize health IT standards
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The Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the majority of the PPACA will be positive for health IT advocates, according to James B. Wieland, JD, principal of Ober, Kaler Grimes & Shriver, a Baltimore-based law firm.
While many of the PPACA’s health IT-related provisions don’t represent any especially unique ideas, they do a lot to align federal efforts with health IT initiatives occurring in the private sector and at the state level.
“What’s important about them is the federalization of these ideas,” said Wieland during a July 12 Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) webinar titled, “The Supreme Court Ruling on the PPACA of 2010: An Analysis of Opinion.”
The PPACA will lead to more federal regulation and oversight in healthcare settings, but when Wieland says it, he doesn’t mean it in a bad way. He believes federal legislation layered over state laws and private-sector practices will help the healthcare industry achieve nationwide standards for the deployment of health IT.
For instance, the law requires the Department of Health and Human Services to work with several other federal agencies to develop a risk-based regulatory framework for health IT. A national regulatory framework could encompass the protection of electronic personal health information, simplifying the healthcare ecosystem by eliminating the need for states to deal with the issue individually, as Massachusetts did with state legislation passed this year.
Some of the PPACA’s more health IT-focused sections include:
- Section 3013, which demands improvement of existing quality measures and development of new quality measures where none currently exist;
- Section 10305, which requires the public reporting of performance information that includes data on health IT systems;
- Section 3022, which creates a shared savings program that eligible accountable care organizations may participate in;
- Section 10333, which sets aside grant money that can be used for, among many things, telehealth services.
While the PPACA pushes health IT another step forward, it doesn’t answer all the questions that many patients and providers alike have posed. For instance, the PPACA encourages both patient-centered and evidence-based care. What if a patient doesn’t want an evidence-based treatment, Wieland asked, or what if a patient doesn’t want to take control of his or her care at all?
Despite some of the dilemmas presented in the 2,800-page bill, Wieland is optimistic. “In my view, we’re getting closer to a standard of care.”