2013 IHIMA: State and Federal Legislative Updates on Healthcare and HITECH

Online Tech is exhibiting HIPAA hosting solutions at booth #9 at the Indiana Health Information Management Association (IHIMA) 2013 Annual Meeting, Changing Times with IHIMA, held at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, in Indianapolis, IN on April 17-19.

State and Federal Legislative Update
Speaker: Brian Tabor, VP Government Relations, IHA (Indiana Hospital Assoc.)

Brian Tabor addressed the crowd with the latest changes in the Indiana state government with new Gov. Mike Pence ( R ), Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann ( R ) and the new Republican majority in the legislative branch and what that means for the bills and legislation currently on the table.

In terms of healthcare, there has been a strong state focus from Indiana and what they are working on in their own backyard in relation to the national healthcare landscape.

Brian works with over 150 state legislators and several agencies to represent hospitals and those with specific roles between the government and hospitals. He noted that it has been key to have senators and representatives who have a background in healthcare. He mentioned Rep. Tim Brown, an ER physician, who handles a lot of the healthcare relations and concerns that pass through the Indiana Legislature and is now Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The biggest issues currently facing those working in hospitals in Indiana in regards to the either new legislation and HITECH are:

Renew Hospital Assessment Fee program
Expand coverage – Medicaid expansion, part of affordable care act
Defend against threats – Added regulatory reporting

What are they following and advocating? He mentioned that while IT issues are a concern for the state, they fell to the second tier in regards to the issues stated above.

Brian went on to discuss several bills going through the IN legislative branch that could affect healthcare for patients. A few he touched on were:

Children and Hoosier Immunization Regulatory Program (CHIRP); in which, among other provisions, the bill introduced would require ALL providers to report ALL immunizations within 72 hours or face a $1,000 fine.

Senate Bill 272 (INSPECT) – A proposal that was made during a committee meeting which would require all legend drug prescriptions to be entered into INSPECT. Several concerns have been raised around INSPECT, mainly dealing with patient privacy and confidentiality, but some concerns were raised for the real time reporting and entry of the information collected.

There has been much press lately at a federal level as to examining the strategies that are going to be needed to fully adopt health IT. Five areas where there are questions remaining for some at the federal level focus on the following:

Lack of a clear path to interoperability
Increased costs of moving to EHR
Possible lack of oversight
High risk of patient privacy
The sustainability of the entire program

Brian C. Tabor, VP Government Relations, IHA (Indiana Hospital Assoc.)

Brian C. Tabor is Vice President of Government Relations at the Indiana Hospital Association. As such, he oversees all of IHA’s state and federal legislative initiatives and health policy development.

Prior to joining IHA in 2008, Tabor worked at the Indiana House of Representatives where he served as the majority caucus policy director. He has worked for and around the Indiana General Assembly for almost 15 years, also serving as a fiscal analyst for the Indiana State Senate. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University.

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