The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has unveiled a new set of rules for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, including a new program focused on EHR standards. According to a government website, this new initiative – known as Advancing Care Information – will include provisions for quality reporting and interoperability.
This new system aims to reduce administrative burdens for reporting physicians and promote efficiency and flexibility. Andy Slavitt, the Acting Administrator of CMS told Fierce EMR that these new rules are, “patient centered, practice driven and enhances connectivity.”
Areas of focus
The CMS stated that this update to EHR Meaningful Use will give medical professionals the tools and freedoms necessary to maximizing the power of IT solutions and bring about improved patient outcomes. Within the ACI framework are a few specific areas of focus:
- Improved interoperability
- Technology platforms that are user-friendly and interactive for patients and physicians
- Flexibility under existing MU provisions.
Both patient outcomes and satisfaction rates can be positively affected by improved interoperability measures and connectivity among medical professionals. The hope is that by incentivizing the use of EHR platforms that have fluid data exchange systems, providers will select the right tools to improve quality and financial sustainability across the board.
An emphasis on quality and value
These new MACRA rules include a “Quality Payment Program” that will replace older reporting expectations, according to Fierce EMR. This new system will include the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, as well as highlight rules for alternative payment models. The goal of the CMS is to promote high-value practices among eligible professionals and practices.
Certified EHR use is a major pillar of this effort. By selecting the right platform, a provider may be able to improve the quality of care offered, document more efficient resource use, and will make monitoring and reporting all the easier.
Under this new ACI policy, physicians will be able to identify measures that can be taken to make positive changes based on specific EHR use and the needs of their practice. EHR requirements will also be staggered, with great rewards for providers that have exhibited exceptional performance or advanced technology initiatives. Some physicians will also be exempt from reporting, and overall the number of specific measures will be reduced from 18 to 11, the CMS explained online.
Under the MACRA changes, ACI would only impact Medicare payments to physician offices, and Medicare hospitals and Medicaid programs would not be affected. The CMS said that there are efforts underway to discuss expanding these efforts. Once the pubic has had time to weigh in on this proposal, the existing MU program and reporting structure would be replaced on Jan 1, 2017. In this way, the CMS hopes to give providers the means of adopting EHRs and other IT solutions in a more relevant way based on their specific practice and patient base. The CMS also stated that this new flexibility should help vendors and developers create products that can more accurately address the demand of different practices. This will demand an even stronger emphasis on interoperability, as products designed to suit the needs of patients and specific providers will not be successful if data exchange is not fluid.
