Last week, GNYHA hosted two briefings to educate members on key health information technology (HIT) legal and regulatory issues. The briefings are part of GNYHA’s larger HIT agenda, which is designed to assist members in efforts to implement electronic health record (EHR) technology and, in turn, to meet Federal criteria for receiving HIT incentive funding. As part of this agenda, GNYHA is offering extensive education, implementation tools, and discussion forums that address member needs and concerns. Programming will focus on policy and regulatory issues; technical and operational issues around implementation; and the use of HIT for enhanced care coordination.

The first December 9 briefing addressed issues related to hospital subsidies of EHRs for community physicians, including compliance with Federal and New York State fraud and abuse laws, and requirements related to tax-exempt status. GNYHA member hospitals, including Continuum Health Partners Inc., North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, and Catholic Health Services of Long Island, presented first-hand experiences with EHR subsidies and assisting physicians with HIT adoption. Issues that were raised and addressed included meeting the yet-to-be-released Federal standards and certification requirements for physician EHRs, while ensuring compliance with Federal and State laws.

The second session addressed the New York State certificate of need (CON) process as it relates to the adoption and implementation of hospital HIT systems. New York State Department of Health (DOH) representatives offered a comprehensive review of the process, including the technical, operational, and clinical areas that must be addressed for CON applications with an HIT component. DOH officials specifically discussed member concerns around CON interoperability and project financing requirements. Further, DOH ensured that project reviews would be completed in a timely fashion so as to avoid delays in accessing Federal HIT incentive funds. A panel of GNYHA member hospitals, including representatives from Episcopal Health Services and NYU Langone Medical Center, provided recent experiences and guidance with respect to their CON applications and their HIT implementation work plans.

Agendas and materials for both sessions are available on the GNYHA Web site. For more information about upcoming activities and events, please contact Zeynep Sumer (zsumer@gnyha.org) or Alissa D’Amelio (adamelio@gnyha.org).