A group of professional medical associations responding to CMS' proposed MSSP ACO rules released in December indicate concern that the agency's regulation of health IT will be more burdensome to ACOs than supportive.
In a letter addressed to CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner, RN, the organizations applaud and share CMS' push to accelerate health information exchanges to provide families and healthcare providers consistent, timely and secure access to their medical information.
The authors of the letter are unsatisfied with the current data exchange environment. They wrote, "Although there has been an increase in the exchange of patient information, the act of two computers sending and receiving data does not constitute functional interoperability — the ability for information to be exchanged, incorporated and presented to a physician or other healthcare provider in a contextual and meaningful manner. It is the exchange, consumption and use of medical information that is at the heart of interoperability."
In CMS' proposed rule, ACOs would be required to detail in their applications how it will encourage and use health IT to improve care coordination, as well as indicate any milestones or benchmarks to measure performance. The authors of the letter are in opposition to such requirements, saying such an administrative burden would only be a barrier to ACOs' coordination.
"CMS' efforts to micromanage the way ACOs utilize information technology are more likely to hinder these efforts than support them. Instead of complying with overly restrictive mandates, ACOs should be given the flexibility to work with their participating physicians and other health professionals on how best to deploy technology in a manner that drives efficiency and quality improvement," according to the letter.
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