The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have each proposed new rules to extend existing protections that allow hospitals to donate electronic health record (EHR) technology to physicians who refer patients to their facilities. By way of background, in 2006, CMS established an exception to the Stark self-referral law to allow hospitals to donate EHR technology to physicians under certain circumstances. Likewise, in 2006, the OIG established a safe-harbor to protect such EHR donations from enforcement under the federal anti-kickback statute. While both protections are set to expire on December 31, 2013, the proposed rules would extend the provisions until the end of 2016 as a means to facilitate the adoption of EHR technology.
In addition to extending the EHR donation protections, the proposed rules would (1) remove the requirement from the original rule that donated EHR technology contain electronic prescribing capability, and (2) update the provision under which EHR technology is deemed interoperable, which would expand the types of EHR systems that qualify for the protections.
CMS’s proposed rule is available here. Comments regarding both proposed rules should be submitted in writing, or electronically at www.regulations.gov, by June 10, 2013.