May 14, 2025

CMS Seeks Comments on the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program – Comments Due by June 10

In the recently released Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included several requests for information for the Promoting Interoperability Program, which requires hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to submit data demonstrating meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology (CEHERT). Hospitals and CAHs that do not meet the requirements are subject to a downward payment adjustment. Some issues that CMS seeks public input on include:

• Query of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Measure – This measure requires eligible hospitals and CAHs to attest yes/no on whether they have integrated their state’s PDMP electronic database, which monitors the use of controlled substances, into their EHRs.
  • CMS seeks comments on whether this measure should be performance-based and measure the percent of electronic prescriptions for which the hospital queried the PDMP for prescription drug history.
  • They also seek comment on whether they should expand the types of drugs to which the Query of PDMP measure could apply.

Click Here to Learn More and Comment

• Public Health and Clinical Exchange Data Objective Measure Scoring – Currently, eligible hospitals and CAHs must attest yes/no on whether they are exchanging data with six required measures in this category.
  • CMS seeks comments on whether they should change the scoring method to allow eligible hospitals and CAHs to earn up to 5 points for each measure, for a total of 30 points for the objective, but must earn at least 1 point for each measure to meet the requirement.
  • CMS also seeks comments on whether these measures should be performance based with a numerator and denominator.

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• Use of Modern Technologies to Ensure Data Quality – CMS wants to encourage and support eligible hospitals’ and CAHs’ use of modern technologies and standards to ensure data are usable, complete, accurate, timely, and consistent.
  • They seek feedback on what challenges hospitals and CAHs are experiencing with collecting high quality data,
  • What the primary barriers are, and
  • How CMS can partner with eligible hospitals, CAHs, industry, and Federal agencies to drive further improvements in the quality and usability of health information being exchanged.

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April 29, 2025

CMS Seeks Input to Streamline Medicare Regulations, Comment by June 10

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing this Request for information (RFI) to solicit public feedback on potential changes to Medicare regulations with the goal of reducing the expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations.

Examples of questions they would like input on include:

• Are there documentation or reporting requirements within the Medicare program that are overly complex or redundant?
• How can Medicare better align its requirements with best practices and industry standards?
• Are there existing regulatory requirements that could be waived, modified, or streamlined to reduce administrative burdens?

Healthcare providers, researchers, stakeholders, health and drug plans, and other members of the public should submit all comments in response to this RFI through the online submission form.

Comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET, June 10, 2025.

Responses to this RFI must be provided via on-line submission at the following website: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/unleashing-prosperity-through-deregulation-medicare-program-request-information.pdf

For assistance or technical problems related to this form, please send an email to: patientsoverpaperwork@cms.hhs.gov.

Click Here to Learn More about this RFI

Click Here to go to online submission form