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Health IT
Upon taking office, President Obama promised to "invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records." The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("stimulus package or ARRA") included $19 billion to modernize health information technology. The ARRA included Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for physicians and hospitals for the purchase and adoption of HIT. NASL believes the benefits of HIT cannot be fully realized unless it is available along the entire spectrum of care. By extending incentives to long term and post-acute care providers Congress would be enhancing significantly the ability of these programs to honor our commitment to delivering quality, cost-effective care to beneficiaries. NASL advocates for standardized, interoperable health information technology to facilitate care coordination and disease management, minimize medical errors, improve outcomes, reduce cost, and empower patients. HIT Provisons in the ARRA include: 1. Codify the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the Department of Health and Human Services; 2. Provide grants, loans and financial incentives for the adoption and use of HIT by health care providers; 3. Amend the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with a number of provisions related to the privacy and security of health information. The ARRA established the HIT Policy and Standards Committees to make recommendations on standards, implementation specifications, and certifications criteria for the electronic exchange and use of health information. The ONC operating plan to meet provisions in the HITECH Act of the ARRA “Recovery Act” of 2009 is posted to the HHS Recovery Website at http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/reports/plans/onc_hit.pdf. The HHS posted its agency-wide ARRA plan pulling together an overview of HHS’s responsibilities under the act. In April 2004 President Bush issued an Executive Order requiring HHS, other federal agencies and their contractors to use interoperable health IT and standard quality measures and to be more transparent about healthcare prices, resulting in quality and efficient delivery of health care. This established the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), American Health Information Community (AHIC), Certification Commmission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP). Certification of LTC EHR Systems The Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT) will begin certification for long-term and post-acute care in July 2010. The LTC Advisory Task Force, composed of representatives with skilled nursing facility, assisted living, home care, hospice, health information technology and public payer experience, will assist the Commission in assessing the current landscape and advising on the appropriate direction and scope of work for the LTPAC Work Group. The Commission will launch the certification program in July 2010. HIT StandardsThe Minimum Data Set (MDS) Version 3.0 is being evaulated by CMS as a part of the Staff Time and Resource Intensity Verification (STRIVE) study. The final changes to the MDS 3.0 will be implemented nationally on October 1, 2010. NASL continues to work with CMS on these developments and the Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Tool. NASL ActionNASL is dedicated to the promotion of information technology adoption in the long term and post acute care industry and believes that education is a large component of promotion. NASL is a proud co-sponsor of the LTPAC Health IT Summit. |
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