Electronic Health Records

Groups Want ONC Regulation of Tracking Systems for Health Data

July 26, 2010

iHealthBeat.org - Two health care trade groups submitted a letter to National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal expressing the need to integrate global trade standards in the health care supply chain with electronic health records, Modern Healthcare reports.

What the Letter Says

The letter -- from the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management and the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association -- specifically advocated for the adoption of unique identification numbers for medical devices, services and locations.

The standards are known as the GS1 Global Location Number and the Global Trade Identification Number.

The letter stated that by adopting national standards and integrating them into EHRs, officials can improve patient safety and introduce efficiencies to the health care supply chain.

In an attempt to encourage the acceptance of these standards, HIGPA partnered with AHRMM and GS1 Healthcare US, a not-for-profit supply chain-tracking systems developer.

Data Standards and EHRs

Adopting these standards would create a traceable system that would allow health care products to be tracked from product to patient, according to the letter.

The letter states that "if EHRs are able to support the use of product identifiers, then recalls will be undertaken with greater ease, and physicians and patients will be informed immediately" (Goedert, Health Data Management, 7/23).

Final Rules on 'Meaningful Use,' EHR Standards Released Today

July 13, 2010

iHealthBeat.org - On Tuesday, federal officials announced the release of the final rule defining how hospitals and health care providers can demonstrate "meaningful use" of electronic health records to qualify for federal incentive payments, Reuters reports (Lentz, Reuters, 7/13).

Officials also released the final rule describing the required standards and certification criteria for EHR technology. The new regulation updates the interim final rule on EHR certification that ONC released in January.

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs will qualify for incentive payments through Medicaid and Medicare.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, new CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin announced the rules during a news conference.

Administration Officials Defend 'Meaningful Use' Before Congress

July 21, 2010

iHealthBeat.org - On Tuesday, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal and Director of CMS' Office of e-Health Standards and Services Tony Trenkle defended the final rules on the "meaningful use" of electronic health records before a hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, CQ HealthBeat reports.

Federal officials released the final rules on July 13. The 2009 economic stimulus package's health IT provisions allocate as much as $27 billion in incentive payments for health care providers who meaningfully use EHRs.

Lessened Restrictions, Hospital Provision Criticized

Multiple health provider groups have lauded HHS' decision to ease some requirements of the proposed version of the rule.

However, some lawmakers and hospitals are questioning a provision to consider hospital systems with multiple facilities as one provider, rather than treating each facility as a separate hospital, for payment purposes.

In addition, some Republicans on the subcommittee said the rules were too lenient for health care providers and questioned why federal officials weakened provisions included in earlier versions of the rule.

CMS has said the final rule offers more flexibility to health care providers.

Blumenthal reminded the panel that the meaningful use rule is the first of three sets of regulations and applies only to incentives granted before 2013. The two subsequent sets of rules will have more stringent requirements, Blumenthal told the panel.

Concerns on Security, Reliability of Patient Data

Republican Reps. Wally Herger (Calif.) and Sam Johnson (Texas) questioned why the rules fail to require providers to exchange electronic health data in a secure way. Instead, the rules require health care providers to test systems for their ability to exchange information during the first rule phase.

Blumenthal responded that exchange systems are not yet ready for deployment in all parts of the country and said stricter rules would unfairly penalize health care providers in some regions.

Trenkle said that officials sought to stay consistent with Medicare payment policies in crafting the final rule.

Herger also suggested that the eased requirements for electronic prescribing might allow physicians to focus on information from relatively healthy patients rather than from patients with more complicated health histories.

Meanwhile, Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) called the final rules "responsible" .