On January 15, 2020 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the draft 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan (“strategic plan”) for public comments. Developed by the HHS Office for the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in collaboration with more than 25 federal organizations, the strategic plan outlines health IT … Continue reading
Last Tuesday, Senior Republican leadership in the Senate held a closed-door briefing for Republican Senate members regarding Senate health care reform legislation. Senior Republican leadership reportedly indicated that they favor the retention of guaranteed protections for individuals with preexisting conditions, a more gradual roll back of the expansion of Medicaid, and may opt to keep … Continue reading
Despite Congress being on Easter recess, last week was a busy week in Washington. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its fiscal year (FY) 2018 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) proposed rule. The rule provides that the proposed increase in operating payment rates for general acute care hospitals paid under the IPPS … Continue reading
On October 6, 2015, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued guidance addressing its policy on the offer of electronic health record (EHR) technology that is purposefully limited in interoperability among providers. OIG’s guidance, entitled “OIG Policy Reminder: Information Blocking and the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute” is intended to reiterate that evidence of “information blocking” … Continue reading