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 response to a CMS request for information (RFI) on how it can use emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve program integrity, AMIA cautioned that such technologies are still in their infancy. AMIA called on CMS that – as it considers the use of […]
In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), AMIA reiterated some previous recommendations it made to HHS and made several new ones for CMS to consider in various categories that drive regulatory and administrative burden: documentation; reporting; lack of program alignment; heath IT usability and user […]
In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), AMIA recommended a phased approach for making payer and insurance plan data available through open application programming interfaces (APIs) to beneficiaries. AMIA also called on the CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) to develop new models to provide structural funding […]
In comments submitted to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), AMIA applauded the agency on its thoughtful and thorough “21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program proposed rule.” AMIA advised ONC to establish an overall “share now, standardize […]
In comments submitted to the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR), AMIA recommended that the Office ensure that HIPAA both requires and permits information-sharing upon patient and clinician request, as well as robust penalties for failing to deliver data pursuant to the patient “right […]
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 comments submitted to the NIH, AMIA supported an expansive update to its 2003 data sharing policy, recommending a phased approach to implement new data management and sharing requirements for NIH-funded research. It also noted that quality data management and sharing plans are prerequisite to the NIH’s goals of making […]
Partnering with AHIMA, AMIA recommended that policymakers modernize HIPAA by either establishing a new term, “Health Data Set,” which includes all clinical, biomedical, and claims data maintained by a Covered Entity or Business Associate, or by revising the existing HIPAA “Designated Record Set” definition and require Certified Health IT to […]
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 […]