Abstract: Since the first stage of Meaningful Use, Health IT leaders have typically focused on keeping up with federal regulatory changes that drive the adoption, use and optimization of certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT). But many of the federal regulations (e.g. public health registry submissions and PDMP integration) must be implemented at the state and county level. In addition, state legislators and state health departments have increasing written new laws and regulations that have significant impacts on clinical workflows and EHR design. How can health IT leaders keep up with these new proposed and enacted state laws, so we are not “taken by surprise”? One solution we’ve adopted is the creation of a state-wide user group focused on regulatory issues that affect our organizations and usage of health IT. We will share how our group helps keep us informed of state regulatory impacts and how you can create a similar user group for your state or region.

Describe the new knowledge and additional skills the participant will gain after attending your presentation.: 1. We will describe how we keep up with what’s in the state legislative pipeline that has implication for health care delivery and supporting technologies
2. We will share perspectives and best practices for providing feedback/comments on proposed new rules/laws at both the state and federal level
3. We will share techniques to better inform health system leadership about the implications and costs of new regulations
4. We offer examples of networking strategies for Government relations, Legal, Compliance and IT at our organizations and across our user group. We share how our teams work with operational partners to communicate the impacts of new legislation
5. We demonstrate how several organizations engage legislators, staffers and state technologists with a unified voice around regulations with health IT impact and how to avoid unanticipated consequences

Authors:

Matthew Eisenberg (Presenter)
Stanford Health Care