Cromnibus Will Affect Regulations Your Healthcare IT Clients Must Meet

By Megan Williams, contributing writer

The Cromnibus is a combination of a short-term continuing resolution and long-term omnibus spending bill that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 17, 2014. Accompanying it was an explanatory statement that included instructions to the ONC focused on improving the interoperability of EHRs.

The passage of measures like these directly affects the deadlines and regulations your clients will have to meet, as well as incentives they may or may not be eligible for.

Before The Cromnibus

The House Committee On Appropriations published an explanatory statement prior to the passage of the Cromnibus. This statement included instructions to the ONC (Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT) pertaining to the EHR Incentive Program, and directly states that the ONC “should use its authority to certify only those [electronic health records, EHR] products that clearly meet current meaningful use program standards and that do not block health information exchange” and “should take steps to decertify products that proactively block the sharing of information ….”

Additionally, the statement also requests a detailed report of the ONC within 90 days of the enactment of the Cromnibus. The report is requested to include details around “the extent of the information blocking problem” along with an estimate of the number of vendors, hospitals, or providers who are blocking information.

The statement also provided directions for the ONC’s Health IT Policy Committee on reporting to the House And Senate Committees On Appropriations no less than a year after enactment of the Cromnibus on challenges to interoperability.

Interoperability Concerns

As EHR technology progresses, interoperability becomes an increasing concern. The National Law Review stated in post covering a recent JASON report, that EHR interoperability “is a major impediment to the unencumbered exchange of health information and the development of a robust health data.” JASON also recommended that MU Stage 3 be used “to break free from the status quo and embark upon the creation of a truly interoperable health data infrastructure.”

The National Law Review makes sure to add that the instructions are not law, and that the language, even if it did constitute law, would still provide room for the ONC and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to adjust as needed. However, the Cromnibus does give the House Appropriations Committees some power, stating that the statement “shall have the same effect with respect to the allocation of funds and implementation … of [the Cromnibus] as if it were a joint explanatory statement of a committee of conference.”