The full Senate could vote as early as this week on the nomination of Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In January, two Senate Committees held hearings on Rep. Price’s nomination. These hearings focused largely on Rep. Price’s stance on repeal of the Affordable … Continue Reading
Tom Price, the Republican representative from Georgia, has been tapped by President-elect Trump as the new Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Rep. Price is himself an orthopedic surgeon and comes from a family of doctors and, as a result, is focused closely on the ways in which government regulations burden … Continue Reading
Last month, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) began its review of the much-discussed new Health IT Certification regulations, which include enhanced oversight of Electronic Health Records (“EHRs”) technology by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”).… Continue Reading
In March, CMS issued a State Medicaid Directors Letter (SMDL) about the availability of enhanced federal funding for state Medicaid programs’ eligibility and enrollment (E&E) systems. This SMDL represents CMS’s most recent effort to encourage States to use commercial “off-the-shelf” technology and “software as a service,” instead of customized electronic systems developed and built specifically … Continue Reading
On February 29, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a State Medicaid Directors Letter (SMDL) that expands the scope of expenditures eligible for the 90 percent federal match for activities to promote the use of a health information exchange (HIE) and the adoption of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology by … Continue Reading
Last week, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Andy Slavitt announced that the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Meaningful Use program will “effectively” end and be “replaced with something better.”… Continue Reading
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) finalized new rules for the Electronic Health Records (EHR) meaningful use program. In response to significant public criticism of the program, the final rulemaking offers some additional flexibility for complying with the program’s requirements.… Continue Reading
Last week, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP), called for HHS to delay the regulations implementing Stage 3 of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) incentive programs until January 1, 2017.… Continue Reading
Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill that would ease federal requirements that professionals seeing patients at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) “meaningfully use” certified electronic health records (EHRs). The measure would sunset after certified EHR technology is applicable to the ASC setting.… Continue Reading
* Jack Lund is a summer associate and student at the University of Virginia School of Law The “21st Century Cures Act” (Cures) cleared its first major hurdle last month when the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously in favor of the legislation. Among other things, Cures helps to modernize Medicare by … Continue Reading
* Gabriel Kohan is a summer associate and student at Harvard Law School. States are continuing to debate the role telehealth services should play in the health care system. Thus far in 2015, several States have enacted parity laws requiring that certain telehealth services be reimbursed to the same extent as in-person services. While on … Continue Reading
In the latest example of Congress responding to increasingly loud industry criticism of the EHR incentive programs, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) announced last week the formation of a working group to identify ways to improve EHR.… Continue Reading
Late last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) with broad bipartisan support. MACRA would permanently repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) for Medicare physician reimbursement and extend federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program for two additional years. The legislation also includes three … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the National Law Journal published its annual Special Report on Health Care Law. Included in this Special Report is an article written by CovingtonEHealth contributors Caroline Brown, Anna Kraus, and Phil Peisch, entitled, The Cyber Future of Long-Term Care: Applying Health Care Laws to Aging in Place Technologies. This article explores how … Continue Reading
On February 27, the House Ways and Means Committee passed the Electronic Health Fairness Act (HR 887), which would exempt ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) from the EHR Incentive Program.… Continue Reading
Yesterday, CMS extended the meaningful use attestation deadline for the 2014 reporting year for eligible professionals in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program from February 28 to March 20. In an email, CMS stated that it “extended the deadline to allow providers extra time to submit their meaningful use data.” Medicare eligible professionals must attest to … Continue Reading
At the ONC’s HIT Committee meeting on February 10, 2015, CMS presented data about the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program. The presentation included CMS’s estimate that over two hundred and fifty thousand professionals participating in Medicare will receive a downward payment adjustment for failing to meet meaningful use standards in 2015, which is the … Continue Reading
Telehealth legislation circulated earlier this month has been included in the draft House 21st Century CURES bill. Groups commenting on the telehealth provision have generally supported the effort to expand telehealth services under Medicare, but are divided about whether the measure goes far enough. The “Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare” subtitle of the CURES bill … Continue Reading
At the end of last year, the American Journal of Managed Care published a study — co-authored by researchers at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) — analyzing the use of electronic prescriptions for controlled substances. This is the first study on this subject since the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) revised … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the proposed rulemaking for Stage 3 meaningful use, which is the next stage of compliance for eligible professionals and hospitals in the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program. Stage 3 is scheduled to begin in 2017. The … Continue Reading
On December 17, 2014, President Obama signed a combination long-term omnibus spending bill/short-term continuing resolution into law (the “Cromnibus”). The Explanatory Statement that accompanied passage of the Cromnibus includes several instructions to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) designed to improve the interoperability of Electronic Health Records (EHR).… Continue Reading
At the December 9, 2014 meeting of the ONC’s Health IT Policy Committee, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) presented data on participation and payments in the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program. This data highlights the size and scope of the program.… Continue Reading
On December 8, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) issued the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020. “The Strategic Plan represents a coordinated and focused effort to appropriately collect, share, and use interoperable health information to improve health care, individual, community and … Continue Reading
On November 24, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it would extend the deadline for hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) to attest to meaningful use for the 2014 reporting year in the Medicare Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program. The deadline was extended for a month, from November 30, 2014 to … Continue Reading
