Information Technology
CMS to Test Receiving Selected
Electronic Health Record Data
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to begin testing the interoperability of systems to receive certain electronic health records data as early as July 10, 2010, according to a Medicare hospital payment rule published Aug. 27 in the Federal Register (74 Fed. Reg. 43754).
Under Section 11(b) of the final inpatient prospective payment system rule, CMS will be working with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to "identify and harmonize standards for the EHR-based submission of Emergency Department Throughput measures, Stroke measures, and Venous Thromboembolism measures," the agency said. It plans to have interoperable standards developed and "fully vetted" by October 2009.
EHR interoperability is a key part of achieving the "meaningful use" criteria hospitals and physician practices must meet to receive Medicare incentive payments provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Pub. L. No. 111-5) (161 HCDR, 8/24/09).
Specifically, CMS is looking at each component of the submission process, and evaluating different mechanisms and formats that prove to be successful and reliable, the notice said.
CMS stated that two criteria will be evaluated in choosing the vendors or hospitals that participate in the testing:
 they are able to submit clinical EHR data using interoperability standards such as Cross Document Sharing (XDS), Cross Community Access (XCA), Clinical Data Architecture (CDA), and Health Level 7 Version 3 to a CMS-designated clinical data repository; and
 they have established or have applied for a QualityNet account.
To participate, hospitals or vendors must submit a letter of interest by Dec. 31 to RHQDAPU Program IT Testing Nomination, CMS, Office of Clinical Standards and Quality, Quality Measurement and Health Assessment Group, 7500 Security Blvd., Mail Stop S3-02-01, Baltimore, Md. 21244-8532.
In comments submitted to the agency on the proposed rule, commenters said they supported CMS's efforts to test EHR submission, create uniform data content standards, and attempt to reduce "the burden to hospitals through automated data transmission via EHR products."
Some comments recommended that CMS ensure the "scientific integrity" of the EHR standards and encouraged continued cooperation between CMS and the National Quality Forum's Health IT Expert Panel. They also encouraged continued incorporation of the Health Information Technology Standards Panel's standards for measures.
CMS said it appreciated the show of support for its efforts, and confirmed its continued cooperation with standard setting organizations, the notice said.
The rule is available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-18663.pdf.
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