Inpatient Facility Coding & Compliance Alert

Watch for new goals regarding health info exchange.

Hospital financial people, take note: Incentive payments could be headed your way, and readmission rates could drop even further.

That’s the latest from CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari, M.D., who recently announced HHS’s plan to accelerate health information exchange (HIE) and build a seamless and secure flow of information essential to transforming the health care system.

Tavenner credited the Affordable Care Act for part of the reason health care delivery is being improved, while lowering costs. "We are already seeing benefits, such as a reduction in hospital readmissions due to these reforms. Health IT and the secure exchange of information across providers are crucial to reforming the system, and must be a routine part of care delivery."

The announcement outlined several steps HHS will take in 2013 in regards to HIE, including a goal of seeing 50 percent of physician offices using electronic health records (EHR) and 80 percent of hospitals receiving meaningful use incentive payments by the end of 2013.

Other steps mentioned were:

An increased emphasis on ensuring electronic exchange across providers

Providing patients and health plan members with better access to electronic health records

Implementing new rules that define what data must be shareable between health IT systems, including structure guidelines and a uniform way to format and securely send data

The goals build on the progress HHS and its partners have already made on expanding health information technology use. EHR adoption has tripled since 2010, increasing to 44 percent in 2012. Computerized physician order entry has more than doubled (increased 168 percent) since 2008.

Resource: To read the full statement from HHS, visit http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2013pres/03/20130306a.html.