NAHAM Joins HIMSS Patient Identity Integrity Work Group

NAHAM is pleased to announce that it has joined the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s (HIMSS) Patient Identity Integrity (PII) Work Group.

The Work Group’s goal for 2011 is to call on the members of Congress to pursue a study for an informed patient identity solution. The Work Group will educate lawmakers using a whitepaper that identifies the complex issues that surround accurate identification of an individual’s information within and across systems, as well as the business processes that must be in place to support and maintain data integrity for quality of care.

By joining the coalition, NAHAM joins other leading organizations in the healthcare information field including HIMSS, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Health IT Now! Coalition, Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS), and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).

NAHAM will keep you updated on the PII Work Group's activities. For more information on HIMSS, visit: http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.asp

What Could the GOP Win Mean for Health IT?

Following the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives and many states on November 2nd, many began to wonder what effect it will have on health reform. A recent article in InformationWeek addresses this question.

Despite campaign talk from the GOP, the author of the article believes that health reform will not be repealed; however, it may be hindered. She believes that health IT will be one area that might suffer. Healthcare providers are just beginning to implement health IT as part of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and state health insurance exchanges. If healthcare reform, or at least provisions of it, appear to be in jeopardy, the author believes that hospital CIOs and CFOs will be more hesitant to continue investing in health IT.

During this lame-duck session, it will be interesting to see what actions the Democrats will take to preserve health reform as is, before they lose control of the House. Meanwhile, many will be watching to see if the Republicans truly take an aggressive approach at overhauling the plan once they are sworn in. NAHAM Government Relations will continue to monitor developments in Washington and report them to you. In the meantime, share your thoughts and comments on the election results in the comment field and in the poll on the NAHAM News homepage.

Source: InformationWeek

http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/leadership/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228200087

State Insurance Commissioners Vote to Approve More Stringent Rules

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners voted unanimously to endorse standards requiring that "80 percent of premium revenue be spent on medical care and 'activities that improve health care quality' for patients." This requirement was set in place by health reform legislation.

The standards set limits on what revenue spending is defined as improvements to health care quality, and what is considered to be compensation or administrative spending. The goal of the standards is to make insurance companies function more as providers of healthcare and less as for-profit companies.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is expected to take the recommended standards and propose them as a new regulation for insurance companies. Opponents of the recommendations argue that they will negatively disrupt the insurance industry by forcing companies out of business and reducing consumer choice.


Source: The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/health/policy/22insure.html?_r=4&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

HHS Announces Completion of Nationwide System to Assist with EHR Adoption

David Blumenthal, M.D., the national coordinator for health information technology, has announced that the final Regional Extension Centers (RECs) have been selected. The RECs are organizations that will be responsible for assisting healthcare entities with the transition from paper-based medical records to electronic health records (EHRs).

The RECs were created through the HITECH Act, which set aside $677 million to fund the RECs for two years. The RECs are focused on helping rural facilities and small practices that may not have the resources needed for the smooth adoption of EHRs. The RECs will provide assistance to physicians in these settings to ensure that EHRs are adopted nationwide.

For more information and a list of the RECs, click here:
http://www.healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1495&mode=2


Source: US Department of Health and Human Services

Six Major Health Reform Provisions Effective Today

Today, six of the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act go into effect. They are:

• Extended coverage for young adults under their parents' plan
• Plans must offer free preventative care services
• Insurance companies are prohibited from rescinding coverage if a person becomes sick
• The ability for Americans to select between two appeal processes when challenging an insurance decision
• Elimination of lifetime caps on coverage
• Regulation of insurers' ability to set dollar limits on coverage

To read more details about these provisions, click here:
http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/overview.html

Curious about when the other provisions of the Affordable Care Act will go into effect? Click here to see a full timeline of changes that will occur:
http://www.emblemhealthreform.com/pub/ersm/tl/2010/?o=0

Sources: healthreform.gov, EmblemHealth

Secretary Sebelius Urges Insurers to Stop Blaming Premium Increases on Health Reform

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius has written a letter to America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), urging their members "to stop using scare tactics and misinformation to falsely blame premium increases for 2011 on the patient protections in the Affordable Care Act."

According to the Secretary, several companies have already started informing customers that increases in premiums were occurring due to health reform provisions. Her letter provides a summary analysis of how the Affordable Care Act will have a minimal impact on plan costs.

Text of the Secretary's letter can be found here:
http://www.healthcare.gov/news/blog/lettertoAHIP.html


Source: healthcare.gov

HHS Prepares for Insurance Changes by Emphasizing "Health Literacy"

An article in Bloomberg Businessweek discusses one step that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is taking to ensure that Americans are prepared for the health insurance exchanges scheduled to begin in 2014 by promoting "health literacy."

The article defines health literacy as "the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information to make appropriate health decisions." The article also mentions that only about one-third of American adults possess what is considered a basic level of health literacy.

HHS has developed a National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy by 2014. Strategies include improving access to health information and using more basic terminology when communicating health issues to the public.

The Bloomberg Businessweek article can be found here: http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/642134.html

The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy can be found here:
http://www.health.gov/communication/HLActionPlan/


Source: Bloomberg Businessweek