HIE Rundown – 5-31-19

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin May 31, 2019

Health Information Exchange (HIE) is happening every minute of every day. Your personal health information is moving and being viewed to improve the quality of your healthcare and lower the costs. The job will not be complete until all health records are digital and interoperable. Here’s what’s happening to make that reality.

Events

News and Noted

EHRA comments on Cures Act Proposed Rule
There has been a wait for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to release the proposed rule fulfilling its Cures Act obligation for quite a while. Encompassing important issues like expanded interoperability, defining what is and isn’t information blocking, as well as proposing updated certification requirements, this is an important rule to get right.

VA tells Senate no on more Cerner EHR oversight
Although the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was a no-show for a House committee hearing recently to address concerns about the implementation of Cerner Corp.’s electronic health record system, VA officials did find time to stop by the Senate. But the department’s message was that it sees no need for more oversight of the 10-year, $10 billion contract.

The Physicians Foundation Announces Interoperability Fund to Improve Health Information Exchange in Six States
The Physicians Foundation (@PhysiciansFound), in association with six state medical societies, announced the formation of the first of its kind interoperability fund, known as The Physicians Foundation Interoperability Fund, which will assist medical practices in effectively sharing clinical information with other physicians and hospitals through health information exchanges (HIE). Funding is available for physicians in participating states with an EHR system and will be allocated to practices on a first come basis.

ONC Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) Recommendation – May 2019
Unanimous vote to add new demographic data to US Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) dataset.

ONC Report – Interoperability among Office-Based Physicians in 2015 and 2017

ONC Announces Second Draft of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and Supporting Documents
ONC (@ONC_HealthIT) released a second draft of the TEFCA last week to support the full, network-to-network exchange of health information nationally. Three TEFCA documents are available for public comment until June 17, 2019. Review and Comment on the TEFCA.

21st Century Cures Act Proposed Rule: Comment Period Extended to June 3, 2019
The public comment period for the ONC 21st Century Cures Act proposed rule has been extended an additional 30 days. Comments are due June 3, 2019. Comment on the Proposed Rule.

ONC Wants your Feedback on New Test Procedures: The draft test procedures that were developed to accompany the proposed certification criteria in the proposed rule are now available and we want to hear your feedback. Extended review period: please review by June 3, 2019. Send us your Feedback on the Draft Test Procedures.

OCR HIPAA Right of Access FAQs: The HHS Office for Civil Rights released FAQs about the HIPAA right of access as it relates to apps designated by individual patients and application programming interfaces used by a healthcare provider’s electronic health record system. Read the OCR Patient Right of Access FAQs.

HIE and Standards Organizations

The Sequoia Project
The Sequoia Project (@SequoiaProject) was chartered to advance the implementation of secure, interoperable nationwide health information exchange. The ONC transitioned management of its eHealth Exchange to The Sequoia Project for maintenance. Since 2012, the Exchange has grown to become the largest health information exchange network in the country.

The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative
SHIEC (@SHIEClive) is the National Trade Association for Health Information Exchange Organizations. It is routine for important data about patients’ ongoing care to reside in multiple unconnected organizations. SHIEC member HIEs use information technology and trusted relationships in their service areas to enable secure, authorized exchange of patient information among disparate providers. By providing enhanced access to all available and relevant patient data SHIEC HIE members aim to improve the quality, coordination, and cost-effectiveness of health care provided in their communities. Read their news feed.

The CommonWell
CommonWell Health Alliance (@CommonWell) is devoted to the simple vision that health data should be available to individuals and providers regardless of where care occurs. Additionally, provider access to this data must be built-in health IT at a reasonable cost for use by a broad range of health care providers and the people they serve.

To Read

Deloitte Insights
Forces of Change – The Future of Health – The future of health will likely be driven by digital transformation enabled by radically interoperable data and open, secure platforms. Health is likely to revolve around sustaining well-being rather than responding to illness. Twenty years from now, cancer and diabetes could join polio as defeated diseases. We expect prevention and early diagnoses will be central to the future of health. The onset of disease, in some cases, could be delayed or eliminated altogether. Sophisticated tests and tools could mean most diagnoses (and care) take place at home.

Highlighted Guest Posts

How Interoperability Powers the ‘Internet of Healthcare’ – By Abhinav Shashank – When it comes to US healthcare, it has been reported that nearly 328 million people contribute to the total clinical data of the nation. Such massive data is further spread across various health networks in various states and counties, which has led to a greater disparity between providers. Though technology has done its part in interconnecting the broken bridges of missing data, the healthcare industry is still not able to fully utilize the data because of the lack of interoperability between different health systems.

Resources

4 Emerging Trends in Patient Identification

The issue of inadequate patient matching and duplicate records has grown increasingly complex as more data is generated and more applications are introduced into the healthcare environment. As data sharing matures and the industry pivots toward value, an enterprise view of patient information is essential for informed clinical-decision making, effective episodic care, and a seamless patient-provider experience during every encounter.

Download this eBook by NextGate to see how developing technologies are shaping patient matching efforts today and into the future.

HealthDataAnswers.net

eHealth Initiative Resource Center
Interoperability Files – Check out the new white paper resource in the eHealth Initiative’s (@eHealthDC) Resource Center: 2019 Survey on HIE Technology Priorities

ONC Interoperability Pledge
Companies that provide 90 percent of electronic health records used by hospitals nationwide as well as the top five largest health care systems in the country have agreed to implement three core commitments: Consumer Access, No Blocking/Ensuring Transparency, and Standards. The ONC (@ONC_HealthIT) wants vendors to sign a pledge. Is your vendor pledging? Find out who is on the list.