December 4 and 5, 2014, Dr. Sri Bharadwaj and Ian Slade from the HIMSS Southern California Chapter visited the offices of the California congressional delegation in Washington, DC.  Accompanied by members of the HIMSS Government Relations Team, Ian and Sri visited the staff of eleven Senators and Representatives from California to emphasize the importance of health information technology to improving healthcare and to progress being accomplished in Southern California.

They delivered statistics on the accomplishments toward achieving the Meaningful Use Program and the EHR Incentive Program in each congressional district and the state.  They also provided each member of Congress with the data on state hospital achievements as measured on the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) and state EMRAM scores for the state.

Ian and Sri also educated Congressional staff on H.R. 5481, The Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2014, introduced in Congress by Representative Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) and Jim Matheson (D-UT-04).  H.R. 5481 would require a 90-day quarter-based MU reporting period for 2015 to ensure health care providers receive the flexibility they need to successfully comply with HHS’ Meaningful Use Program in 2015.  The HIMSS chapter representatives asked the members of Congress to sign on as cosponsors of H.R. 5481 which now has 25 Congressional cosponsors and will be reintroduced in the new 114th Congress.

After completing the marathon two days, Ian Slade said, “It is rare that we get to chance to voice our concerns to multiple offices in a short period of time.  We definitely made the most out of the two days.”

HIMSS encourages its members and chapters to engage with their state legislators and their members of Congress to explain the progress and the challenges encountered in implementing EHRs and HIEs within their state and congressional district.  A good place to start developing your message for your elected representatives is with the 2014 HIMSS Congressional Asks.
Reaching out to your state legislators and Congressional delegation can be accomplished with the members’ district offices, the members’ Washington office, and HIMSS Government Relations Team can assist. Reach out to Policy@HIMSS.org or 703-562-8800.

Source Article from http://www.himss.org/News/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=36993

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