During the 12th Annual HIMSS Policy Summit, hosted by the Health Information Management Systems Society as a part of National Health IT Week, HIMSS will promote its three "Asks," or top legislative priorities, directly to members of Congress.
The three Asks are:
1. Congress should make the development and adoption of a consistent nationwide patient data matching strategy, through a government-industry collaboration, a priority for the Obama Administration.
2. Congress should require expedited efforts to align the EHR Incentive Program's quality reporting requirements across all federal reporting and incentive programs. HHS and other federal agencies should align meaningful use's clinical quality measures, with other health IT compliance initiatives, including ICD-10, Physician Quality Reporting System programs, Electronic Health Record Incentive Program Pilot for Eligible Providers, e-Reporting Pilot for Eligible Hospitals and Clinical Access Hospitals, Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program, and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
3. To improve the quality of patient care, safety, and cost containment, Congress should exercise its oversight authority to ensure that needed health IT data definitions and transaction standards are implemented consistently and effectively nationwide, with needed infrastructure in place, to support meaningful use stages and national healthcare transformation.
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