| Description |
There are sometimes a few proposals which were not funded in their entirety, those few being scaled back from their original
level of requested funding (allowable under the program).
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Six (six) sets of comments and recommendations were submitted to the Secretary this past fiscal year through letters and reports
(September 2010– March, 2011). Whether clarifying and defining the ARRA initiated term “meaningful use of health information
technology” and expanding it to “meaningful measurement” or recommending support for updated versions of the HIPAA transaction
standards and ICD-10 code sets, or launching an effective process for selecting operating rule entities and operating rules,
the Committee has been extremely productive and influential. NCVHS comments and recommendations are typically broad-based,
applying to multiple programs and policies within the Department rather than to a specific agency or program. Many of the
recommendations have to do with aspects of health information policy over a long period of time. Implementation of these recommendations
usually requires consensus and collective activity from agencies and components of the Department, often through the Data
Council. Nevertheless, careful scrutiny of the intent of each of the statements and review of Departmental programs reveal
a high amount of alignment at the Department level with the stated sets of recommendations. CMS has implemented recommendations
for HIPAA standards and operating rules, and some recommendations of the NHIN Privacy letters were included in ARRA provisions.
Please note that letters to be considered at the September 2011 meeting, while technically are part of this fiscal year, were
not completed in time for this analysis and will be included in next year’s report, as will the response to the PCAST report,
approved in a special conference call, August 26th. For this review and analysis, 6 sets of recommendations -- Recommendations
regarding Operating Rules of Eligibility and Claims Status Transactions; Sensitive Health Information; Health Plan Identifier;
Aligning Quality Measurement with Needs of Health Reform; Standards for Electronic Funds Transfer and Operating Rules for
EFT and Health Care Payment and Remittance Advice; and Recommendations for an Entity to Submit Proposed Operating Rules to
Support EFT. Aspects of all six sets are in some status of being implemented or acted upon at least in part within the Department,
resulting in 85 percent performance.
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