Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS' intention to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information (including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information) and to allow 60 days for public comment on the proposed action. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding our burden estimates or any other aspect of this collection of information, including the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

DATES:

Comments must be received by January 16, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

When commenting, please reference the document identifier or OMB control number. To be assured consideration, comments and recommendations must be submitted in any one of the following ways:

1. Electronically. You may send your comments electronically to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for “Comment or Submission” or “More Search Options” to find the information collection document(s) that are accepting comments.

2. By regular mail. You may mail written comments to the following address:

CMS, Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs, Division of Regulations Development, Attention: Document Identifier/OMB Control Number:__, Room C4–26–05, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–1850.

To obtain copies of a supporting statement and any related forms for the proposed collection(s) summarized in this notice, please access the CMS PRA website by copying and pasting the following web address into your web browser: https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/PaperworkReductionActof1995/PRA-Listing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William N. Parham at (410) 786–4669.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Contents

This notice sets out a summary of the use and burden associated with the following information collections. More detailed information can be found in each collection's supporting statement and associated materials (see ADDRESSES ).

CMS–10552 Implementation of Medicare Programs;—Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. The term “collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA requires Federal agencies to publish a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, CMS is publishing this notice.

Information Collection

1. Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of a currently approved collection; Title of Information Collection: Implementation of Medicare Programs;—Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program; Use: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requesting approval to collect information from eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs). We have finalized changes to this program as discussed in the FY 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) final rule. This is a revision of the information collection request.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Pub. L. 111–5) was enacted on February 17, 2009. Title IV of Division B of the Recovery Act amended Titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act (the Act) by establishing incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals and CAHs, and Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs that adopt and successfully demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology (CEHRT). These Recovery Act provisions, together with Title XIII of Division A of the Recovery Act, may be cited as the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act” or the “HITECH Act.”

The HITECH Act created incentive programs for EPs, eligible hospitals including CAHs, and MA organizations in the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS), and Medicaid programs that successfully demonstrated meaningful use of CEHRT. In their first payment year, Medicaid EPs, eligible hospitals including MA organizations and CAHs could adopt, implement, or upgrade to certified EHR technology. It also allowed for negative payment adjustments in the Medicare FFS and MA programs starting in 2015 for EPs, eligible hospitals including MA organizations and CAHs participating in Medicare that are not meaningful users of CEHRT. The Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program did not authorize negative payment adjustments, but its participants were eligible for incentive payments until December 31, 2021, when the program ended.

In CY 2017, we began collecting data from eligible hospitals and CAHs to determine the application of the Medicare payment adjustments. This information collection was also used to make incentive payments to eligible hospitals in Puerto Rico from 2016 through 2021. At this time, Medicare eligible professionals no longer reported to the EHR Incentive Program, as they began reporting under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System's (MIPS) Promoting Interoperability Performance Category. In 2019, the EHR Incentives Program for eligible hospitals and CAHs was subsequently renamed the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program. In subsequent years, we have focused on balancing reporting burden for eligible hospitals and CAHs while also implementing changes designed to incentivize the advanced use of CEHRT to support health information exchange, interoperability, advanced quality measurement, and maximizing clinical effectiveness and efficiencies.

In the FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule, we finalized the following policy changes for eligible hospitals and CAHs that attest to CMS under the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program. None of the policies we finalized will affect the information collection burden: (i) to adopt three electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) beginning with the CY 2025 reporting period: (1) Hospital Harm—Pressure Injury eCQM; (2) Hospital Harm—Acute Kidney Injury eCQM; and (3) Excessive Radiation Dose or Inadequate Image Quality for Diagnostic Computed Tomography (CMT) in Adults eCQM; (ii) to modify the Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) Guides measure to require eligible hospitals and CAHs to submit a “yes” attestation to fulfill the measure beginning with the EHR reporting period in CY 2024; and (iii) to establish an EHR reporting period of a minimum of any continuous 180-day period in CY 2025. Form Number: CMS–10552 (OMB control number: 0938–1278); Frequency: Annually; Affected Public: State, Local or Private Government; Business and for-profit and Not-for-profit; Number of Respondents: 4,500; Total Annual Responses: 4,500; Total Annual Hours: 29,625. (For policy questions regarding this collection, contact Jessica Warren at 410–786–7519.)