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IT CoPs for post-acute providers on agenda.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Before you find yourself slapped with a set of regulatory mandates regarding electronic health records, you should take your chance to share your thoughts on the matter with Medicare.<\/p>\n Under the\u00a0Trump\u00a0<\/strong>administration, electronic health records, interoperability of record systems, and patients\u2019 and providers\u2019 access to medical information has become a focus of the\u00a0Department of Health and Human Services\u00a0<\/strong>and the\u00a0Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services<\/strong>. CMS Administrator\u00a0Seema Verma\u00a0<\/strong>recently announced the launch of CMS\u2019s MyHealthEData initiative and Blue Button 2.0 focusing on those topics. Under the programs, CMS aims to ease electronic exchange of health information between providers and ensure patients\u2019 easy access to their own health data.<\/p>\n In Medicare\u2019s 2019 proposed payment rule for hospice, CMS spends some time discussing the importance of those areas and broaching some regulatory ideas to ensure the transition to smooth access of health data.<\/p>\n Heads up:<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>CMS may include some new Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage in multiple areas, including:<\/p>\n CMS\u2019s discussion focuses largely on hospitals and their requirements to share information, but could well apply to other provider types too, the rule indicates.<\/p>\n The hospice industry has \u201ca lot of interest in interoperability,\u201d says\u00a0Judi Lund Person\u00a0<\/strong>with the\u00a0National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization<\/strong>. Hospices experience frustration when they are on the receiving end of being unable to access information regarding their patients\u2019 hospital stays, for instance, Lund Person says.<\/p>\n \u201cTo fully understand all of these health IT interoperability issues, initiatives, and innovations through the lens of its regulatory authority, we invite members of the public to submit their ideas on how best to accomplish the goal of fully interoperable health IT and EHR systems … as well as how best to further contribute to and advance the MyHealthEData initiative for patients,\u201d CMS says in the rule. \u201cWe are particularly interested in identifying fundamental barriers to interoperability and health information exchange, including those specific barriers that prevent patients from being able to access and control their medical records.\u201d<\/p>\n CMS is looking for comments on \u201crevisions to the current CMS CoPs or CfCs for hospitals and other participating providers and suppliers\u201d in particular, the rule continues. CMS recognizes \u201cthe need to address health IT adoption and interoperability among providers that were not eligible for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentives program, including long-term and post-acute care providers \u2026 and we would also welcome specific input on how to encourage adoption of certified health IT and interoperability among these types of providers and suppliers as well,\u201d the rule says.<\/p>\n Now is the time to let CMS \u201cknow what we want here,\u201d Lund Person urges. These requirements appear inevitable, so providers need to speak up about what they want them to look like and how they can be reasonable and the least burdensome.<\/p>\n The deadline for submitting comments is June 26. Commenting instructions are in the rule at\u00a0www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/pkg\/FR-2018-05-08\/pdf\/2018-08773.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n Source- SuperCoder<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n