Top News
HITAC Recommendations to Reform Electronic Prior Authorization
ONC recently announced the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee's (HITAC) 13 recommendations for reform of the electronic prior authorization process. Topics include: Certified Health IT Capabilities to Support the Prior Authorization Workflow; Readiness of Implementation Guides to Support Functional Capabilities; Patient-Centered Inclusion; and a Prior Authorization Roadmap to FHIR. View each of the 13 topic areas and the full report.
Administration
Surgeon General References 25x5 Symposium
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, issued a report to combat physician burnout, and referenced the 25x5 Symposium report which was led by Columbia University, Vanderbilt University, AMIA, and was funded by the National Library of Medicine. AMIA assumed leadership of the initiative in December 2021. A key recommendation of the report is to implement strategies and approaches developed by the 25x5 Symposium to reduce administrative burdens by 75% by 2025 so that health workers can spend more time with patients. View Murthy's full report.
ARPA-H Established
On May 25, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the formal establishment of the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as an independent entity within the National Institutes of Health. The Secretary also announced the appointment of Adam H. Russell, D.Phil., as acting deputy director.
Administration Requests Expanded Authority for HHS
The Biden Administration has requested that Congress provide HHS with the authority to issue binding “advisory opinions” for the information blocking regulations to enhance the implementation of 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) provisions. The requested new authority would give HHS the ability to issue a binding advisory opinion to advise whether, in HHS' view, a specific practice would constitute information blocking, including whether an exception would or would not be met given the facts and circumstances. The advisory opinion would be binding on HHS. The Administration believes that the public availability of the facts and practice(s) associated with such advisory opinions would be beneficial by providing tangible compliance and non-compliance perspectives based on on real-world requests.
Around the Web
- Medicare Advantage Advocate Endorses Prior Authorization Bill; HealthLeaders
- Connected Healthcare Takes Huge Leap Forward; InformationWeek
AMIA's Washington Download is your source for health informatics policy news and information from around the Beltway, covering action from the Hill, the Administration and important AMIA collaborators.