FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 30, 2019
Media Contact:
Emily Dowsett
Associate Director, Public Affairs
edowsett@mgma.com
MGMA supports Administration’s interoperability goals, cautions against added cost, complexity, security risks
WASHINGTON - On Thursday, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) responded to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) Proposed Rules on interoperability and information blocking.
“The Administration is playing a pivotal role in the move towards interoperability as it works to implement the 21st Century Cures Act,” said Anders Gilberg, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, “but we’re concerned that the proposed approach goes too far, too fast.”
The proposed API and information blocking provisions would impose new and onerous requirements on physician practices—far beyond what is required under current regulation—while putting patient data at risk. While MGMA is fully supportive of increased patient access to their health information, maintaining confidentiality of that information remains critical. Rather than imposing inflexible mandates, the government must permit clinicians to use their professional and clinical judgment to ensure patient data is both accessible and secure.
“Implementing sweeping new requirements under an overly aggressive timeline may be counterproductive. The proposed mandates would risk compromising the security of patient data and increase administrative burden and costs for physician practices,” cautioned Gilberg. “These unintended consequences are at odds with the Administration’s push to put patients over paperwork.”
MGMA’s formal comments to ONC and CMS should serve as a framework for discussion as the rulemaking process moves forward. We are eager to work with the Administration to achieve effective interoperability through an incremental and sustainable approach that upholds patient confidentiality as a core component.
Our high-level recommendations and detailed comments to ONC can be found here, and comments to CMS can be found here.
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