WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2016: November’s elections are roughly 10 months away, but their effect is already being felt in the health IT world. Expectations for congressional and regulatory accomplishment have been trimmed, given the fact that Congress will spend a mere four weeks in Washington between mid-July and mid-November. That leaves little time to finish up legislative work before campaign season goes full tilt. And team Obama won’t be launching big health IT initiatives as its calendar counts down. Here’s a rundown of what to look for this year. Pros can access the full story here: http://politico.pro/1VAYz6P
21st Century Cures Action: The Senate probably has until about Memorial Day to pass its companion to the House’s bill. That would leave barely enough time to reconcile any differences with the House version. While Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander has said the medical innovation bill will be his top priority this year, the window is narrow, given that several self-imposed deadlines were missed in 2015.
Meaningful use: Complaints about the EHR incentive program are sure to continue in 2016, but policy experts don’t expect that to translate into changes. With the Obama White House on the way out and a Congress that was been unwilling to force CMS’s hand, the status quo of Stage 2 is expected to continue.
All eyes on MACRA: CMS will be working on implementing the April 2015 law, in part by building out the Merit-based Incentive Payment System. A proposed rule that folds the meaningful use program into the new MIPS system is expected this spring or early summer.
Telemedicine: Lobbyists fighting to expand Medicare technology payments have a good chance of get something enacted through the Senate Finance Committee’s chronic care working group. It will be tough to finish on an abbreviated congressional calendar, but senators have been fleshing out telemedicine policy proposals in their work. Meanwhile, Medicare’s Next Generation ACOs will be free to use the technology as they see fit, and CMS will continue telemedicine experiments through its innovation center.
ONC: Chief Karen DeSalvo dropped a bomb when she said last month ONC wanted to connect all health information exchanges by the end of this year. That’s an ambitious target, obviously.
Mental health: Reform in this are will receive a great deal of attention by Congress, especially as regards the handling of patients’ substance abuse records and other privacy issues.
DoD implementation: The Defense Department is expected to roll out its new EHR system in initial Pacific Northwest sites later this year.
Cybersecurity: HHS will be busy implementing the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, which mandates an HHS report on cybersecurity, directs the department to create a framework of health care-specific security best practices and standards, and creates a task force to study the best way to share cyberthreats within the health care world.
eHealth tweet of the day: @jwhite_health: Welcome to 2016, the year of#health #interoperability
Welcome to Monday morning eHealth where we are looking for tips on how to ease back into the flow of a normal work week after a long holiday. Does anyone else find it difficult? Also, don’t forget to pass along your news atdpittman@politico.com and connect with us on Twitter @David_Pittman, @arthurallen202, @DariusTahir @ POLITICOPro, @Morning_eHealth.
FORTHCOMING FDA GUIDANCE: The FDA’s device center is out with the list of guidance documents it intends to publish in the coming year. Making the cut is draft guidance on using patient-generated data in medical device decision making. Falling under the heading “we’ll get to it if we can” are draft guidance on device interoperability and patient access to information. The full list:http://1.usa.gov/1MMyVou
WORTH A READ: ProPublica’s Charlie Ornstein took a close look at HIPAA complaints received by HHS’s Office for Civil Rights and how they have translated into enforcement actions. Turns out, OCR “only rarely imposed sanctions for small-scale privacy breaches that caused lasting harm,” Ornstein reports. “The patterns you’ve identified makes a person wonder how far a company has to go before HHS recognizes a pattern of noncompliance,” says Joy Pritts, ONC’s former chief privacy office. Find the story here: http://bit.ly/1kqpi8j
WHILE WE WERE AWAY: The Pro eHealth team didn’t stop producing features over our holiday break. Here’s a summary of what we published since our last Morning eHealth:
— NIH Director Francis Collins talks precision medicine, interoperability and … honeybuns. http://politico.pro/1TiYvac
— A bill aiming to spur telemedicine’s use in the VA is in danger of being tabled because of concerns raised by the American Medical Association.http://politico.pro/1NKDinW
— eHealth Editor Arthur Allen tells how cloud-based EHRs are making it easier to track flu outbreaks. http://politico.pro/1miYRTZ
— AHRQ’s Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement Director Arlene Bierman discusses how the agency is making its work more relevant.http://politico.pro/1Oswclp
— CMS quality chief Kate Goodrich sheds light on implementation of new payment systems coming under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act.http://politico.pro/1R69mH3
FIRST IN MORNING EHEALTH: The growth of connected health — the use of remote monitoring, wearable sensors and apps — will be “substantial and swift” as more studies emerge demonstrating its role in improved health outcomes, ACT | The App Association says in its State of the App Economy report out this morning. Top opportunities in the field are chronic disease management, personal fitness and remote monitoring, a market expected to be $46 billion by next year.http://bit.ly/1UmdpMZ
TAKE MY CODES, PLEASE: The American Telemedicine Association is out with a request of 36 telemedicine billing codes it wants Medicare to start paying for in 2017. These are existing in-person services that the association thinks should also be covered when delivered via telemedicine. If accepted, the new code conditions would be listed in the physician fee schedule sometime this summer. The codes would still be subject to Medicare’s severely restrictive telemedicine requirements, like those that require the patient to be in a rural health care facility. The document: http://politico.pro/1mq297V
DELAWARE TELEMEDICINE NEWS: The ERISA Industry Committee generally likes the Delaware insurance commission’s proposed telemedicine regulations. But in comments submitted last week, the group takes issue with a requirement that payers offer the same rate for in-person and telemedicine visits, saying it “imposes an unnecessary and inflexible mandate on payers. … If cost-savings are achieved through telehealth,” the group says, ” those savings should be reflected in the cost and reimbursement rates of telehealth services.” The full letter: http://bit.ly/22DwUXv
NEW FROM ONC: Over the holidays the office released an online summary of policy levers states can use to advance health IT and interoperability. Among the 32 levers are Medicaid state plan amendments, accountable care arrangements and insurance policies. The full compendium: http://bit.ly/1PFFOOX
UNCLE SAM WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU: ONC and CMS have issued a request for information on how to better incorporate quality reporting requirements into EHR certification. “CMS and ONC request feedback on how often to require recertification, the number of clinical quality measures to which a certified Health IT Module should be certified, and ways to improve testing of certified Health IT Module(s),” CMS officials wrote in a blog post.
WHAT WE’RE CLICKING:
Epic’s employee headcount is up 1,400 over the last year to 9,400 overall:http://bit.ly/1TyO3eI
Athenahealth honcho Dan Haley blasts continuing delays and watering down of meaningful use requirements: http://bit.ly/1mvfHyu
Patient privacy goes out the window in lawsuits: http://nyti.ms/1mYhPzh
A former OCR official expects HIPAA enforcement to pick up in 2016:http://bit.ly/22DuwA6
What to expect from this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas:http://bit.ly/1PxsEUc
The American Journal of Managed Care devotes entire issue to health IT:http://bit.ly/1Rj1ccB
Date: January 4 ,2016
Source: Politico