
HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
View All ProductsTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreThis blog post is the first of three excerpts from our recent article, “Easing the Burden: Healthcare Providers Are Crying Out for Regulatory Relief. Is the Government Listening?”
“Patient safety and positive outcomes are at the center of what we do.”
That phrase, or one similar to it, could be attached to any marketing or advertising material put out in the healthcare world. Few, if any, providers would take exception. Indeed, patient safety does reside at the core of healthcare, and is ensured not only by professional and well-trained providers and competently run healthcare systems, but it is also safeguarded by a vast number of local, state, and federal regulations.
That’s the area where there is some conflict. The regulatory landscape, particularly at the federal level, has become increasingly cumbersome, conflicted, and difficult to navigate. This burden has resulted in providers and systems saying they are spending too much time ensuring compliance, taking them away from their primary mission of providing care.
The problem has been thoroughly examined and most recently documented in a report from the American Hospital Association: “Regulatory Overload: Assessing the Regulatory Burden of Health Systems, Hospitals and Post-acute Care Providers” (AHA, Regulatory Overload, 2017). In its research, the AHA digs into the tension between providing high-quality care and the agencies charged with governmental oversight, and how those two groups often collide rather than work in tandem.
“Federal regulation is largely intended to ensure that health care patients receive safe, high-quality care. In recent years, however, clinical staff — doctors, nurses and caregivers — find themselves devoting more time to regulatory compliance, taking them away from patient care. Some of these rules do not improve care, and all of them raise costs,” the AHA stated in its report summary. “Patients also are affected through less time with their caregivers, unnecessary hurdles to receiving care, and a growing regulatory morass that fuels higher health care costs.” (AHA, Regulatory Overload, 2017).
Numbers and Costs Tell a Startling Story
The AHA research picked apart the healthcare system to divide it into nine domains:
Within those, it found that health systems, hospitals, and post-acute care providers must comply with 629 discrete regulatory requirements. Those split almost evenly, with 342 oriented toward hospitals and 288 toward the post-acute system. The regulations are promulgated primarily by agencies: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). There are other federal agencies, however, who do have regulatory oversight (AHA, Regulatory Overload, 2017).
What does this mean out in the “real world?” A lot of time spent making sure that myriad data is not only tracked but documented and archived in such a way that it can be accessed for verification. That takes time, staff, and money. According to one summary of the report (Burke, 2017):
The AHA called out the frequency and pace of regulatory change as a major issue in compliance. By noting that “as new or updated regulations are issued, a provider must quickly mobilize clinical and non-clinical resources to decipher the regulations and then redesign, test, implement, and communicate new processes throughout the organization,” it showed how increasing regulation causes ongoing upheaval in the clinical setting as compliance is sought and achieved. The report also squared off against Meaningful Use, the rollout of which it says is requiring the average-sized hospital to spend nearly $760,000 annually to meet administrative requirements, as well as $411,000 in related upgrades to systems during that same 12-month period — 2.9 times more than IT investments for any other domain. (AHA, Regulatory Overload, 2017).
Future Installments of this series will cover:
References
AHA, “Regulatory Overload.” (2017, November 03). Retrieved August 2018, from https://www.aha.org/guidesreports/2017-11-03-regulatory-overload-report)
Burke, D. (2017, November 03). AHA Report: Healthcare Providers are Being Crushed by Regulatory Burdens. Retrieved August, 2018, from http://wallerhealthcareblog.com/post/171/aha-report-healthcare-providers-are-being-crushed-by-regulatory-burdens/1
CMS, “CMS Finalizes Changes to Empower Patients and Reduce Administrative Burden.” (2018, August 2). Retrieved August, 2018, from https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-finalizes-changes-empower-patients-and-reduce-administrative-burden
McCanne, D., MD. (2017, October 27). “The cost of regulatory overload.” Retrieved August, 2018, from http://pnhp.org/blog/2017/10/27/the-cost-of-regulatory-overload/
Marshall, M. (2018, February 7). “How Health Care’s Regulatory Landscape is Shifting in 2018.” Retrieved August, 2018, from https://www.cerner.com/blog/how-health-cares-regulatory-landscape-is-shifting-in-2018
Monica, K. (2018, May 7). CMS Working to Change Status Quo of High Administrative Burden. Retrieved August, 2018, from https://ehrintelligence.com/news/cms-working-to-change-status-quo-of-high-administrative-burden
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ResuscitationIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsLearn more about HealthStream's Provider Credentialing, privileging, & enrollment solutions.
View All CredentialingExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All Products