HIMSS EHR Association Discourages Proposed Requirement to Report Patient-Level Data

The HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association (EHR Association), a collaboration of 42 EHR supplier companies, in responding to the Center for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) proposed rules for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System for 2012, asked CMS Administrator, Donald M. Berwick, M.D., to reconsider its proposal to require the submission of patient-level data as it pilots electronic submissions of clinical quality measures (CQMs) based on the burden it would impose on provider organizations and other considerations.

The Association also expressed strong support for CMS’ stated intent to align the Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and EHR incentive program quality measures and reporting approaches, as well as the general intent to pilot electronic reporting of quality measures and the continuation of the current EHR incentive program attestation approach for quality measure reporting.

The full text of the Association’s comments on both the physician and hospital proposals at www.himssehra.org.