The Alliance of Specialty Medicine responded to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Request for Information (RFI) on the potential development of a National Directory of Health Care Providers and Services or NDH. The NDH would aim to streamline data collection and create efficiencies by serving as a single entry point for providers to update their directory and digital contact information across multiple CMS systems. The Alliance’s comments expressed support for CMS’s interest in facilitating care coordination and health information exchange and minimizing provider reporting burden. The Alliance also reminded CMS of the important potential role an NDH could play in terms of improving health plan network transparency and accuracy, particularly as it relates to identifying a clinician’s specialty and subspecialty, as well as in terms of streamlining utilization management and prior authorization processes. At the same time, the Alliance urged CMS to gradually phase in the implementation of an NDH in order to maintain trust in the integrity of the system and the data. The Alliance’s full comments may be accessed by clicking the link below.
