In late April, eHI launched a special workgroup to help craft a report with a set of recommendations to fully leverage health IT and digital health to fight COVID-19 and future public health challenges.

Over the past two months, eHI members have dialed in to hear presentations from guest speakers and discuss critical issue areas including: telehealth and remote patient monitoring; artificial intelligence and machine learning; access to broadband; health information exchange; and public health surveillance.

While eHI staff is busy drafting a report made up of the consensus recommendations from our eHI member participants, you can find short summaries and recordings of every meeting below and keep an eye on your inbox for updates on the release of our workgroup report. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Catherine Pugh.

Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring

On April 27^th, eHI Assistant Vice President of Policy Catherine Pugh provided an overview of the temporary federal telehealth policy changes that were enacted at the beginning of the COVID-19 public health emergency and discussed recommendations for making some of these changes permanent. Robert Jarrin with the Omega Concern presented on how remote patient monitoring (RPM) tools were being used during COVID-19 and Medicare reimbursement policy related to RPM.

Find a recording of the workgroup meeting here.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

On May 11^th, Eileen Koski from IBM T.J. Watson Research Center joined the workgroup to present on how IBM was using artificial intelligence (AI) to support COVID-19 data modeling and insights through their Deep Search service, drug candidate exploration, and Functional Genetics Platform tools. The workgroup then discussed how federal policy can support and strengthen these tools to fight disease.

Find a recording of the workgroup meeting here.

Broadband Access

On May 26^th, Brad Wolters, Director of Federal Government Relations with eHI member Marshfield Clinic presented to the workgroup on the challenges their health system – with locations in rural Wisconsin – have faced in using technology to continue to deliver care to patients during stay-at-home periods and when facilities were closed for non-essential services. Because of a lack of high-speed broadband in many areas they service, the use of audio-only telehealth was crucial for Marshfield.

Find a recording of the workgroup meeting here.

Health Information Exchange

On June 8^th, Jaime Bland, CEO of eHI member Nebraska Health Information Initiative (NEHII) discussed how they’ve helped support the response to COVID-19 in their state by supporting lab results reporting and hospital status/availability. The workgroup then discussed policy issues such as increasing HIE funding and better coordination between federal agencies with jurisdiction over lab reporting requirements.

Find a recording of the workgroup meeting here.

Public Health Surveillance

Finally, on June 22^nd, Dr. Scott McNabb from Emory University presented to the workgroup on modernizing our country’s public health surveillance system. The workgroup discussed steps that could be taken to move from the current disease-specific and siloed system to an integrated surveillance system.

Find a recording of the workgroup meeting here.

On June 29^th, 340 organizations signed a letter urging Congressional leaders to make telehealth flexibilities created during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent. Those signing this multi-stakeholder letter include national and regional organizations representing a full range of health care stakeholders and all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

On June 23^rd, eHI submitted a comment letter in response to the Department of Health & Human Service Office of the Inspector General (OIG) proposed rule entitled Fraud and Abuse; Information Blocking; Office of Inspector General's Civil Money Penalty Rules. The proposed rule is the first step toward the OIG’s implementation of civil money penalties for information blocking as required under the 21^st Century Cures Act.

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule [CMS-1730-P] that proposes routine updates to the home health payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2021, in accordance with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. This proposed rule also includes a proposal to make permanent the regulatory changes related to telecommunications technologies in providing care under the Medicare home health benefit beyond the expiration of the public health emergency (PHE) for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Read the full CMS fact sheet here

Key Take-Aways:

• Members agreed that expansion of telehealth services as well as broadband funding (especially in rural areas) are necessary for moving forward post-COVID
• All parties agreed in that the policies surrounding originating site and reimbursement for Medicare/Medicaid should be maintained even after the national state of emergency is over
• Biggest issues are surrounding cost containment,

On June 3^rd, a multistakeholder group of organizations, including eHI, sent letters to House and Senate Appropriations Committees to urge the removal language in the Fiscal Year 2021 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill that prohibits the US Department of Health and Human Services from spending any federal dollars to promulgate or adopt a national unique patient identifier.

As providers continue to face challenges treating their patients during the pandemic, health technology companies have focused on supporting those on the frontlines during these unprecedented times. From the shift to telehealth to keeping pace with new health IT regulations, electronic health record vendor athenahealth has been at the forefront of supporting and advocating for the providers who use their systems. Join eHI CEO Jennifer Covich Bordenick for a discussion with athenahealth’s Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Joe Ganley, on how they’ve been pushing for policies to support providers and patients, and what he sees as the future for health technology policy.

Background: Through Congressional action, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) was granted the authority to waive underlying statutory restrictions on Medicare reimbursement of telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency period. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented this flexibility through the issuance of waivers, as well as an interim final rule. 

As health care facilities and provider practices look to protect their providers and patients from COVID-19, telehealth provides a safe and effective option for providers to continue to treat patients from a distance. eHI has put together this FAQ document to help those who are implementing telehealth during this period.*