WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5347, the Health Care Efficiency Through Flexibility Act, on Monday via a voice vote. The legislation allows Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program to continue collecting quality data through electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs), Merit-Based Incentive Payment System clinical quality measures, and Medicare clinical quality measures through performance year 2029.

The measure responds to a 2024 regulation issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that required ACOs to begin using only eCQMs starting in 2023. H.R. 5347 also requires CMS to establish a pilot program from 2028 to 2032 to test other digital reporting methods for ACOs. ACOs within this pilot program would be exempt from using other reporting methods during the pilot period. Following the conclusion of the pilot, CMS would be required to publicly post an analysis of the program and any related recommendations.

U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan, who chairs the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, stated that the legislation would reduce regulatory burdens on ACOs. "By ensuring ACOs have access to multiple quality reporting pathways, my bipartisan legislation will reduce excess regulatory burden on ACOs and allow providers to focus on delivering high-quality, value-based care," Buchanan said. He added, "I look forward to my bill being considered by my Senate colleagues and ensuring that it is signed into law to improve care, lower costs, and make life easier for patients and doctors alike."

U.S. Representative Jason Smith, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, supported the bill. "Medical providers, including those participating in accountable care organizations, should not be distracted from providing better healthcare at a lower cost by uncertain Washington reporting rules," Smith said. Smith added, "The Health Care Efficiency Through Flexibility Act puts patient care first by giving medical providers the stability and flexibility to report quality measures the way that suits them best and ensure a smooth transition to digital reporting methods." The bill has three Republican co-sponsors: Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, Darin LaHood of Illinois, and Mike Lawler of New York, and one Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California.

Several organizations, including the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations, America's Physician Groups, Accountable for Health, and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, support H.R. 5347. Susan Dentzer, President and CEO of America's Physician Groups, expressed satisfaction with the House passage. "We are very happy about the House passage of the H.R. 5347, as we have been advocating enthusiastically for its passage for some months," Dentzer said. Dentzer said, "We believe that measuring quality in healthcare and reporting on appropriate quality measures is vital to the success of value-based care, in which all our more than 300 physician member organizations are engaged." She added, "And we do believe that -- beyond the vitally important question of which quality measures should be collected -- the future surely lies in doing so through electronic or digital quality measures." Dentzer noted, "However, the state of play now for many Medicare Shared Savings Plan ACOs -- in which many of our members participate -- is that much of the healthcare system isn't yet ready to report quality data to CMS using electronic clinical quality measures." She explained, "The data needed to support these measures must be collected and reported right out of electronic health records, and not all [electronic health record] systems are currently configured to collect the specified measure data appropriately." Dentzer concluded, "It's just a matter of common sense to give ACOs temporary flexibility (through performance year 2029) to choose one of three appropriate channels for reporting quality data while all Medicare Shared Savings Plan ACOs work toward the eventual goal of full implementation of eCQMs." Regarding the pilot program, Dentzer said, "In principle, we are fully supportive of the long-term push toward eCQMs, but it will be very helpful to test the approach broadly to surface any other issues that must be addressed before all ACOs use them as the sole quality reporting mechanism."