WEDI Newsletter  | March 2017
Executive Corner | Payer, Provider Dialogue Key to Prior Authorization Reform
Book Now to Save for WEDI 2017 | Webinar Update
WEDI Congratulates Dr. Tom Price |  Workgroup Roundup | Sponsorship Special
After spending more than three decades in healthcare, I feel honored to be writing this message as the President and CEO of WEDI in the first edition of WEDI’s Monthly Newsletter. WEDI has been the nation’s leading authority on the use of health IT to create efficiencies in healthcare information exchange for 26 years. Through the continued support of WEDI members, our Workgroups, Committees, and Board, you can be sure that WEDI will continue to work towards our vision of better healthcare at lower cost through collective action.

2017 brought about leadership changes in HHS, CMS, OCR, and many other agencies and programs with which we work. We have extended our hand in ongoing cooperation with Dr. Tom Price, Seema Verma, and their team members as we continue our commitment to being an advisor to HHS Secretary Price and the dedicated staff at HHS. We continue to reinforce our dedication to creating efficiencies in HIT by enhancing and expanding our offerings for continued growth by proactively educating the health IT community and by focusing our content on areas of high-relevancy, high-value, and high-impact in addition to attracting new audiences to expand our networking role. We look forward to working with the new administration and our valued members to unite the healthcare industry in developing innovative solutions to solve today's and tomorrow’s leading business challenges.

I want to thank all of our workgroup and committee members who are constantly working to resolve issues and make systems work more efficiently and effectively. We continue to expand our educational programming and conferences, surveys, and webinars and ask for your continued support of these activities. Our next national conference – WEDI 2017 – will be held in Los Angeles May 15-18 where we will showcase best practices, identify emerging trends, and work toward finding consensus solutions in the ever-evolving healthcare IT industry.

Thank you for everything that you have done to welcome me and the WEDI team, and I’m excited to hear your feedback and to learn how WEDI might better serve your membership needs. Our Board members are highly committed volunteers dedicated to the success of WEDI and its members.  
If you haven’t yet registered for our National Conference – WEDI 2017 – in Los Angeles, California May 15-18, NOW is the time to do so! Our early registration rates are only available until the end of this month (March 31), saving both members and non-members $200! This event will bring healthcare leaders together across payers, providers, government regulators and industry vendors to discuss “Driving Solutions
in a Changing Healthcare Landscape.” Don’t delay in the opportunity to be a part of these critical discussions at a discounted cost. Find out more here.

Prior authorization reform has recently been a hot topic for many healthcare industry groups and it was no different at HIMSS17.

To find out more about what providers and payers plan on doing to alleviate the administrative and care access challenges related to prior authorizations, RevCycleIntelligence.com sat down with Charles Stellar, President and CEO of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Exchange (WEDI).

Stellar served on a  panel  discussing prior authorization burdens at HIMSS17. His fellow panelists hailed from various parts of the healthcare system, including payers, vendors, and industry groups, such as the American Medical Association (AMA).

Stellar, the former Executive Vice President of American’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), shed some light on how prior authorizations became so burdensome for providers and what is being done to help providers get back to delivering care.

For the full article from RevCycleIntelligence,  click here .

Join our FREE webinar this Friday, March 31 from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EDT on the Quality Payment Program!

The Quality Payment Program improves Medicare by helping clinicians focus on care quality and the one thing that matters most — making patients healthier. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) ended the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, which threatened clinicians participating in Medicare with potential payment cliffs for 13 years. Clinicians that participate in Medicare Part B are part of a dedicated team who serve more than 55 million of the country’s most vulnerable Americans, and the Quality Payment Program will provide new tools and resources to help them give patients the best possible care. 

Register for this educational webinar here.
Did you miss one of our recent webinars and want to catch up on the content? Take advantage of these available resources and download the On Demand Content Today! WEDI webinars are free for Members, $99 for Non-Members. Visit the WEDI Store for a listing of all the recorded presentations, or access a few of our most recent ones here:
  • 21st Century Cures Act Overview – March 2017 online webinar – Access Now
  • Telehealth in the Spotlight: One state’s comparison of billing and reimbursement regulations – February 2017 online webinar – Access Now
In February, WEDI released the following statement regarding the confirmation of Dr. Tom Price as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The statement is to be attributed to Charles W. Stellar, President and CEO of WEDI.

“WEDI congratulates Dr. Tom Price on his confirmation as the next HHS Secretary. Dr. Price is the first practicing physician to hold the position of HHS Secretary since Dr. Louis W. Sullivan was confirmed from 1989-1993. At that time, Dr. Sullivan created WEDI as a vehicle to bring the healthcare industry together in a collaborative environment to identify and promote opportunities to simplify administrative processes through use of electronic standards. Dr. Price brings to his position a comprehensive knowledge of health information technology and a thorough understanding of the policy development process. These skills will be critical as we assert that significant work still remains before the industry achieves full optimization of health IT for both clinical and administrative purposes. We look forward to working closely with Secretary Price and his leadership team to advance the efficient and effective use of health IT to improve the nation’s healthcare delivery system.”

All of our workgroups have great projects and things underway. Here’s just a brief highlight of a few:

  • The Electronic Funds Transfer SWG and 835 SWG are collaborating on a white paper on the Barriers to Adoption of EFT and ERA and are in the final stages of review of the paper.
  • The 837 SWG is reviewing the Version 7030 837 TR3s that are available for public comment until June 1, 2017. If you are interested in reviewing what has changed in the claim transactions in 7030 and raising potential concerns that should be addressed, then please join this subworkgroup.

WEDI offers numerous advertising, marketing, and sponsorship opportunities allowing your organization to market to your specific healthcare audience. Our sponsorships fit
a wide range of marketing strategies, promotional methods, and budgets. One such opportunity currently available at our special promotion price is the Conference Mobile App for the discounted price of $8,000. There are only TWO available sponsorships – one at WEDI 2017 and one at WEDI-Con 2017. Act now to take advantage of this deal!

There are also many sponsorship opportunities at each of our major on-site conferences as well as virtual conferences and webinars, or sponsorship of educational materials such as white papers and issue briefs.

Contact us today at businessdevelopment@wedi.org to decide which opportunity is right for you!

As a WEDI member, you will not only serve as a leader in our field, helping define the impact of future healthcare legislation and regulation, but also as an innovator, developing best practices that are implemented by organizations across the country. Through resources such as whitepapers, educational tools and materials, and access to peers’ best practices, WEDI members become more equipped to improve operational efficiency and increase revenue. 

Find out more about WEDI Membership Today!

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is the leading authority on the use of health IT to improve healthcare information exchange in order to enhance the quality of care, improve efficiency and to reduce costs of the American healthcare system. Formed in 1991 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), WEDI was named in the 1996 HIPAA legislation as an advisor to HHS and continues to fulfill that role today.
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