AHIMA Health Information Advocate — November 2022
Action Items
- Make sure to visit the AHIMA Action Center and participate in our ongoing campaigns.
- Register here for the Patient ID Now coalition briefing on a new survey regarding survey results on patient identity management.
Capitol Hill Update
Midterm Elections: Today is Election Day for the 2022 midterm elections, deciding control of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for the 118th Congress, as well as many state and local elected positions. If you have not voted already, make sure to find out how to vote in your state and get out to the polls today!
Federal Agency Update
Additional Payment Rules Released: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released additional payment rules as part of their annual update processes this week. As part of these efforts, CMS released the Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Final Rule and the CY2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule . These rules finalize the changes previously proposed earlier this year by CMS, including coding changes on skin substitutes and updates to the Promoting Interoperability Program.
ICD-10-CM/PCS C&M Comments: AHIMA submitted comments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on ICD-10-CM/PCS code proposals discussed at the September ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance (C&M) Committee meeting that are being considered for implementation on April 1, 2023.
Health Equity: AHIMA responded to the CMS request for information on health equity with a set of recommendations to further health equity in US federal policy.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month: October was cybersecurity awareness month and the federal government released several resources to support those efforts, including a recognized security practices briefing video released by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA), and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a joint cybersecurity advisory concerning the activity of the cybercrime group “Daixin Team” that has actively targeted US critical infrastructure, including the healthcare and public health sector.
CISA and the FBI also released guidance to assist organizations in responding to Direct Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks. The guidance was released as part of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) initiative.
Events
Patient ID Now Briefing: Join the Patient ID Now coalition for a briefing where the results of a new survey on patient identity management are released for the first time. Learn where the industry is in the management of patient identification and matching, what challenges remain, and what Congress can do to move the issue forward.
Noteworthy Articles
Rand Paul Says US Botched COVID. He Could Soon Lead Probes of It (Washington Post, November 2022)
The 3 Possible Outcomes of the Midterms in Congress, Explained (Vox, November 2022)
Member Engagement in Advocacy
Thanks to all our members who came out to learn about the important policy issues that impact the profession at AHIMA and recognize the work of AHIMA members over the past year at AHIMA22. From attendance at sessions and meet-ups, learning about patient identification, interoperability, social determinants of health, to celebrating AHIMA wins at our Advocacy Reception, our members showed their passion for health information advocacy!