The AAMC submitted a Dec. 6 comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to its request for information on a national directory of health care providers and services (NDH) [refer to Washington Highlights, Oct. 7].
“The AAMC agrees with the general premise that a national, centralized NDH has great potential to improve the accuracy and actionability of information contained in health plan directories while also significantly reducing burden on providers to maintain information,” the letter stated.
The AAMC shared broad recommendations to the CMS, including strong support for ensuring stakeholder consensus for the types of listed entities (i.e., individuals and groups of providers) that should be included in a future NDH, a core set of standardized data elements and definitions, and core functionality for updating the information. Additionally, the association’s letter recommended that the CMS evaluate design options that support the agency’s health equity goals and commit to a phased approach should it implement an NDH.
The agency will review comments as part of its broader consideration on whether to pursue the creation of an NDH through future rulemaking.
- Washington Highlights