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Health Care Reform and Health IT Stimulus: ARRA and HITECH
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law on February 17, 2009 by President Obama, has many implications on health information issues and the HIM workforce. AHIMA is actively monitoring, participating and developing resources to assist in understanding the key components of this law and the impact on the industry and practice. Information on healthcare reform will be continually evolving in the next months. Key highlights of important HIM issues include:
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- Incentives for adoption of EHRs
- Health information exchange (HIE)
- New privacy regulations (Subpart D of XIII) for both HIPAA and non-HIPAA entities
- HIM workforce opportunities
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This website is dedicated to providing you a central resource center on leading edge information, opportunities, and requirements that will be generated by ARRA. Remember too that weekly updates on ARRA as they happen will be posted on AHIMA’s members-only eAlert.
What’s New
Check this section frequently for new information posted on the AHIMA ARRA web page and breaking industry news.
- March 3 - DRAFT AHIMA Meaningful Use Response Letter - Please note this is a draft and is not for quote or attribution. See Draft MU Response Letter.
- March 3 - DRAFT AHIMA IFR on HIT Response Letter - Please note this is a draft and is not for quote or attribution. See Draft IFR on HIT Letter.
- February 1 - NPRM and IFR Mapping for Eligible Hospitals -
Outlines the stated Stage 1 objectives in the MU NPRM with the corresponding measures and then mapped to the required certification criteria and standards (content exchange, vocabulary, P/S) for those objectives as outlined in the IFR. Follow this link to the NPRM and IFR Mapping for Eligible Hospitals.
- February 1 - NPRM and IFR Mapping for Eligible Professionals - Outlines the stated Stage 1 objectives in the MU NPRM with the corresponding measures and then mapped to the required certification criteria and standards (content exchange, vocabulary, P/S) for those objectives as outlined in the IFR. Follow this link to the NPRM and IFR Mapping for Eligible Professionals.
- January 20 - AHIMA launches white papers on the Meaningful Use Notice of Proposed Rule Making. See below under AHIMA Analysis.
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- January 6 - AHIMA Overview of CMS Proposed Meaningful Use Criteria On December 30, 2009, the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held a press conference to announce two long-awaited rule proposals. The first rule was the Medicare and Medicaid Programs, Electronic Health Record Incentive Program – commonly called the Meaningful Use rule. The second rule– an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that adopts an initial set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for electronic health record (EHR) technology e necessary to achieve Meaningful Use.
This Overview covers the Meaningful Use Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), which was posted on December 30 in draft form. This overview is not intended to be an analysis of the document but to provide information on the rule as it was displayed by CMS and ONC. As with any overview or analysis, readers should thoroughly read the official Federal Register published document once it is available. See Meaningful Use CMS Proposed Rule Overview
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- January 5 -Fed Issues Proposed Criteria for “Meaningful Use,” EHR Certification Healthcare rang in the new year with long-awaited specifications for the EHR incentive programs enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
On December 30, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services released a proposed rule defining the “meaningful use” of EHRs and describing the provisions of the incentive programs that encourage the adoption and use of EHRs. A related interim final rule issued by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT sets initial standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for EHR technology.
Both regulations are expected to be officially published in the Federal Register on January 13, 2010, and will be open to public comment for 60 days thereafter. The interim final rule for certification will take effect 30 days after publication.
Read more on the Journal of AHIMA Web site, including links to the rules and AHIMA’s initial overview of the meaningful use proposed rule.
http://journal.ahima.org/2009/12/31/cms-releases-notice-on-meaningful-use/
AHIMA has begun its review of both rules in anticipation of commenting to the federal government, providing more information to members, and offering an HIM perspective to the industry. Watch future e-Alerts and AHIMA’s ARRA Web page for information.
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Archived What's New Information
ARRA Legislation
Officially known as the American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA Public Law 111-5) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), the “Stimulus Law” was signed on February 17, 2009 by President Obama and provides $19.2 billion in spending on health IT.
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AHIMA Analysis
Meaningful Use White Papers: AHIMA offers a series of brief white papers on the Meaningful Use Ntoice of Proposed Rule Making.
- Paper no. 1 - Overview of the Meaningful Use NPRM (January 20, 2010)
- Paper no. 2 - Meaningful Use - Provider Requirements (January 21, 2010)
- Paper no. 3 - Meaningful Use - Incentive Payments and Program Requirements (January 27, 2010)
- Paper no. 4 - Meaningful Use and EHR Certification (February 3, 2010)
- Paper no. 5a - Measures Reporting for Eligible Providers (February 10, 2010)
- Paper no. 5b - Measures Reporting for Eligible Hospitals (February 10, 2010)
- Paper no. 6a - Clinical Quality Measures for Providers (February 17, 2010)
- Paper no. 6b - Clinical Quality Measures for Hospitals (February 17, 2010)
- Paper no. 7 - Qualifying for Meaningful Use (February 25, 2010)
- Paper no. 8 - Overview of AHIMA's Comments on Meaningful Use (March 4, 2010)
- Paper no. 9 - Overview of AHIMA's Comments on EHR Certification Standards (March 11, 2010)
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AHIMA has completed two different perspectives for analysis of the ARRA legislation:
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HITECH
Title XIII of ARRA was given a subtitle: Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). It is this section (ARRA pages 112 – 165) that deals with many of the health information communication and technology provisions including Subpart D – Privacy (ARRA pages 144-165).
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