Agency listening to physicians and addressing concerns including EHR usability, meaningful use
FRIDAY, March 13, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is listening to physicians and wants to address the regulatory burdens they face, according to a report published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
Speaking at the AMA National Advocacy Conference, HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell told physicians that the agency wants to help restore the joy of medicine. She addressed concerns relating to the increasing regulatory burden that physicians are experiencing.
Burwell referred to some of the ways that the HHS is working to build a better health care system, addressing concerns that have been expressed by physicians. These include improving the usability of electronic health records, implementing changes to the meaningful use program, making plans for a permanent solution to the sustainable growth rate formula, and improving the way that care is delivered and information is distributed. She referred to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative, which will award $800 million for the creation of evidence-based, peer-led collaborative and practice transformation networks; the effort is expected to support an estimated 150,000 physicians and other clinicians as they transform their practices.
“I am committed to making sure [the HHS does] a good job at listening and at communicating because that’s what a relationship is all about,” Burwell said at the conference.
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