CMS rule looks to kill faxed, mailed claims in favor of e-submissions
In a fact sheet, CMS said the final rule establishes the first HIPAA-adopted standards “for health care claims attachments, enabling the secure electronic exchange of health care claims-related supporting clinical documentation such as medical records, x-rays and imaging, clinical notes, telemedicine visit documentation and laboratory results.”
The proposed rule was first released in December 2022 by the Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration. CMS said its final rule is expected to save the healthcare industry approximately $781 million annually by creating national standards for the exchange of electronic claims documentation, as well as through the adoption and use of electronic signatures.
The rule goes into effect May 26, although covered entities have two years from the effective date to comply.
“This new rule will modernize American healthcare by standardizing electronic claims attachments and enabling secure electronic signatures,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “Because every minute providers save on paperwork is another minute they can spend caring for patients.”
Since the start of the second Trump administration, CMS has placed a greater emphasis on technology to streamline healthcare services and outcomes. The agency, in particular, has been using artificial intelligence and other emerging capabilities to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse across the Medicare and Medicaid systems.
During a keynote session at the HIMSS conference in Last Vegas earlier this month, Oz said clinicians need to help combat a sense of “AI nihilism” so that the agency can adopt further tech capabilities — such as agentic AI — to support Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
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