AHA suggests actions to immediately reduce CMS regulatory burden

The AHA today laid out actions the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could take to immediately reduce the regulatory burden on hospitals, health systems and the patients they serve. The actions range from cancelling Stage 3 meaningful use requirements for electronic health records to prohibiting the enforcement of direction supervision requirements in critical access and small or rural hospitals. “Reducing administrative complexity in health care would save billions of dollars annually and allow providers to spend more time on patients, not paperwork,” wrote AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels. The letter responds to a request for information on CMS flexibilities and efficiencies included in the proposed rule for the inpatient and long-term care hospital prospective payment systems for fiscal year 2018. AHA commented separately on the proposed payment system changes.