A new draft strategy from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) addresses administrative burdens caused by electronic health record (EHR) use as a joint effort between the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to fulfill the aims of the 21st Century Cures Act. The draft strategy outlines three main goals to reduce clinician burden:

1. Reduce the effort and time required to record health data into EHRs
2. Reduce the effort and time required to meet regulatory reporting requirements for clinicians, hospitals and health care organizations
3. Improve the EHR usability and functionality

ACC Advocacy staff and member committees are actively reviewing the draft strategy and will respond with written comments by the Jan. 28, 2019 deadline. Reducing administrative burden is a key strategic priority of the College. Excessive administrative tasks that are not central to direct patient care can lead to delayed or missed patient care, clinician dissatisfaction and workplace burnout.

Recent policy principles developed by the College specifically urge stakeholders to optimize EHR workflow designs to increase operational efficiency and productivity while continuing to improve quality care.

In addition, the College is committed to advocating for and adoption of consensus methods and standards that allow effortless data transmission, extraction, interpretation and manipulation to ensure interoperability on all medical devices and platforms.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team, Prevention, Stress

Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Magazine, Workflow, Health Policy, Workplace, Consensus, Burnout, Professional, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S., Goals, Medicaid, Medicare, Electronic Health Records, Patient Care

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