Interoperability

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On May 13, 2021, MITRE Corporation, a non-profit that provides engineering and technical guidance for the federal government, published a long-awaited report proposing a National Strategy for Digital Health (the “Report”).  The proposed strategy provides a framework and prescribes tangible action items in order to revolutionize the American healthcare system through digital tools and technology.  The underlying premise is that harnessing the power of research, data, and innovation can further shared goals and accomplish priority outcomes to transform not only the digital plane of the healthcare system, but every facet of modern American healthcare.
Continue Reading MITRE Corporation Outlines a Proposal for a Digital Health Revolution in New Report

In an effort to provide additional relief to a health care system strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (“ONC”) released an Interim Final Rule with Comment Period (“IFC”) on October 29, 2020 that extends the compliance dates under the 21st Century Cures Act Interoperability, Information Blocking, and ONC Health IT Certification Program Final Rule (the “Final Rule”) and offers some technical corrections and clarifications.
Continue Reading Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Extends Compliance Deadlines under Interoperability Final Rule

On March 9th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized two rules that are designed to give patients access to their health data and to increase interoperability among health care providers and payers using health information technology.  The two rules, issued by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), implement interoperability and patient access provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act.  A primary aim of the 21st Century Cures Act was to push the healthcare industry to facilitate interoperability of healthcare data across the spectrum, including amongst health care payers, providers, patients and technology vendors.  For decades, HHS has largely relied on the industry to enable interoperability through a market-driven approach that would, in theory, benefit industry while achieving the interoperability goals established by the regulators. Unfortunately, it has been observed that the theory behind a market-driven approach has not been manifested in reality. In reality, the market-driven approach has allowed industry to monetize data by limiting data sharing and, in turn, impeding the benefits of interoperability which rely upon data sharing to promote improved care coordination, better patient outcomes, and material cost reductions. In order to bend the curve toward interoperability, the new HHS rules are designed to provide for binding and specific steps to “free” health care data and recognize the aforementioned benefits.
Continue Reading CMS Releases Interoperability Rule Designed to Increase Patient Access to Health Information

On March 4, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a wide-ranging proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”)[1] with the intent to “move the health care ecosystem in the direction of interoperability” in alignment with the objectives set out in the 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”)[2] and Executive Order 13813.[3] According to CMS, this Proposed Rule is a key step in putting patients at the center of their health care and ensuring that they have access to their health information – attempting to solve the problem of accessing complete health information from different providers and payors. CMS believes patients should have the “ability to move from health plan to health plan, provider to provider, and have both their clinical and administrative information travel with them throughout their journey.”[4] A twin goal is that health IT should not “detract from the clinician-patient relationship… or from the quality of work life for physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals.”[5]
Continue Reading Overview of Proposed Rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Regarding Interoperability and Patient Access to Data

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) kicked-off its annual global conference this week in Orlando, Florida, addressing leading topics in healthcare information technology. Over 45,000 healthcare and information technology professionals and 1,300+ vendors are expected to attend the week long event.  
Continue Reading HIMSS19 Kicks-Off Addressing Leading Topics in Healthcare Information Technology