AMIA’s goal is to improve the legislative and regulatory environment for health informatics research, practice and education through AMIA member expertise. The primary pathway through which AMIA achieves this goal is by engaging Federal Agencies and Congress on public calls for input, such as Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs) or Request for Information (RFIs).
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AMIA responses are arranged by Federal Agency and Congressional Committee.
In comments submitted to ONC and CMS, AMIA recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services orient its documentation burden reduction strategy towards a long-term goal of decoupling clinical documentation from billing, regulatory, and administrative compliance requirements. AMIA highlighted the unique opportunity to leverage informatics tools and methodologies to […]
In response to a Request for Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AMIA urged HHS officials to focus on narrow use cases, such as CDS or eCQMs, when conceptualizing a national collaborative for health IT testing. AMIA also outlined the pros/cons of focusing on CDS versus eCQMs […]
In response to a Request for Comment from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AMIA urged the administration to seek harmonization of federal data privacy policies, while also ensuring that consumer access to and control over his or her data be the baseline for its policies.
In response to the CMS CY2019 Physician Fee Schedule NPRM, AMIA applauded federal officials for aligning physician and hospital EHR requirements and advancing policies that further incentivize the adoption of health IT for patient care. AMIA also supported CMS efforts to reduce documentation burden through new options to use time […]
In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) applauded federal officials for balancing burden reduction provisions with a need to continue making progress on health IT adoption and use.
In response to a CMS Innovation Center request for information (RFI) on its potential new direction, AMIA offered several suggestions focusing on the interdependency of payment and delivery reforms, supported by health IT and health informatics. AMIA suggested additional guiding principles with which to approach new Innovation Center model design […]
Today, AMIA responded to a CMS Proposed Rule on the CY 2018 Physician Fee Schedule. AMIA supported many of the proposals, including a proposal to begin the Appropriate Use Criteria Program in 2019 and proposed changes to E/M documentation guidelines.
Today, AMIA responded to a CMS Proposed Rule on Year 2 of the Quality Payment Program. AMIA supported many of the new flexibilities offer to eligible clinicians to participate in MIPS or advanced alternative payment models. The organization also urged CMS to require 2015 Edition CEHRT beginning in 2019.
AMIA submitted comments supporting ONC’s draft framework, recommending a measurement approach that focuses on the clinician and patient experience. AMIA also underscored the need to have the benefits of measurement outweigh the costs, and urged federal officials to provide sufficient support to develop and implement automated measurement solutions.
In comments to CMS, AMIA supported proposals to reduce the number of required quality measures and new proposed reporting period flexibilities, while also recommending additional such flexibilities for the 2018 Hospital IQR Program and the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. AMIA additionally agreed with the proposed rule’s analysis that […]