Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

As CMS moves Meaningful Use (MU) to the side and puts Advancing Care Information (ACI) front and center, HHS aims to set up federal guidelines for certified health IT with its final rule titled the “ONC Health IT Certification Program: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability.”

“More transparency and accountability in health IT is good for consumers, physicians, and hospitals,” said Vindell Washington MD, MHCM, national coordinator for health IT, in an Oct. 14, 2016 HHS news release. “Today’s final rule strengthens the program by ensuring that certified health IT helps clinicians and individuals use and exchange electronic health information safely and reliably.”

What’s at stake. The three top ideas from the final rule focus on making EHRs and the vendors who provide them more accountable to federal standards.

Here’s a short breakdown of the three basic initiatives:

• The framework for assessing risks and correcting mistakes for new CEHRT falls under the ONC’s “direct review.”
• Under its “consistent authorization and oversight” clause, the ONC plans to check that testing, performance, and any other important implemen­tation issues between the ONC and its subsidiaries remains smooth and efficient.
• The certification program sees the need for “increased transparency and accountability” on the part of the vendors, so the ONC can assist health IT customers in identifying the safest products for their practices.

To look at the HHS release with a link to the Federal Register’s final rule, visit http://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2016/10/14/hhs-issues-final-rule-enhance-reliability-transparency-accountability-and-safety-certified-health.html.