This is an ongoing battle. But there will be guerrilla warfare about the details, which could undermine the effect of today's announcement. Industry leaders vowed to press HHS officials to reconsider provisions in the rule that they argue would hurt care and raise costs by making the industry less efficient. Mary Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, said her group and others would urge Thompson to act swiftly to make adjustments so that hospitals do not needlessly spend money on new data systems to fulfill requirements that might change. We think a lot of money can be saved by writing the rule in the correct way. . . .
Speed is of the essence.