Reflections on the US HIT Policy Trajectory

I ’m in China this week, meeting with government, academia, and industry leaders in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou.  The twelve hour time difference means that I can work a day in China, followed by a day in Boston.  For the next 7 days, I ’ll truly be living on both sides of the planet.I recently delivered this policy update about the key developments in healthcare IT policy and sentiment over the past 90 days.I ’ve not written a specific summary of the recently released Quality Patient Program proposed rule which provides the detailed regulatory guidance for implementation of MACRA/MIPS, but here’s theexcellent 26 page synopsis created by CMS which provides an overview of the 1058 page rule.In general, it has many positive provisions.The industry is welcoming the delays and accommodations it includes, especially the use of 2014 certified records for the 2018 year and the small practice exemptions which recognize the technologies/people/processed needed to succeed under MACRA/MIPS could overwhelm independent clinicians.The Senate replacement for the Affordable Care Act continues to be debated and there is concern that loss of medicaid dollars may eliminate funding streams that supported healthcare IT.  It ’s too early to tell where the ACA repeal/replace activity will converge.What can we say about the IT policy direction of the US right now?1. There seems to be great consensus that all stakeholders need to foc...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs