In a letter to CMS, the American Academy of Family Physicians urged the agency to rethink who should be financially responsible for providing new federally-mandated EHR updates.
The letter, which served as a comment on CMS' MyHealthEData initiative, made a number of recommendations to CMS regarding its strides toward data sharing and interoperability, as well as other regulatory burdens placed on physician practices.
"CMS must take the time and financial costs physicians endure into account while addressing improved patient access to healthcare data," the letter reads.
As part of MyHealthEData, the agency is planning to overhaul its EHR incentive programs and instead, focus on interoperability. CMS wants to revise the programs so they reduce the time and compliance costs associated with meeting the program's requirements.
While AAFP lauded CMS' intention to encourage patients to have meaningful control of their data, it cautions against requiring physician practices to take on the bulk of the responsibility. Instead, AAFP suggests vendors should work to create standardized interoperable systems.
"Due to the lack of such interoperability, physicians are currently and unfortunately beholden to their EHR vendors. This has resulted in vendors possessing a monopoly within the practice and the vendor's ability to price gouge the practice for software upgrades and maintenance," the letter reads. "To realize meaningful patient access to their data, we strongly urge CMS to require EHR vendors to provide any new government-required updates to such systems without additional cost to the medical practice."
Click here to view the full letter.
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