By Micky Tripathi, ONC
LinkedIn: Micky Tripathi
LinkedIn: ONC
In the last three and a half years, we have been hard at work advancing the way interoperability supports the care environment. From Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) implementation to the HTI-1 Final Rule to information sharing initiatives, we look at all facets of the interoperability prism in our work. And, our work continues. On the heels of the release of the HTI-1 Final Rule, my team is hard at work on developing the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability Proposed Rule (HTI-2.) This will be the second rule in ONC’s series of Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability rules.
In the Unified Agenda, we shared with the public our plans for HTI-2. In HTI-2, you can expect to see a strong focus on interoperability and a specific focus on how strategic standards adoption can further interoperability. In fact, we see the impact of standards adoption every day in our ongoing work on United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI). We are thrilled to see the uptick in USCDI use across the healthcare sector and amongst our federal partners.
What else can you expect to see in HTI-2? ONC has talked extensively about the importance of the public health landscape to the care continuum and the ways that health IT and data modernization can result in better public health data to inform population health, emergency response, and public health surveillance. The Health IT Advisory Committee, in both 2021 and 2022, explored public health data modernization and made recommendations to ONC to enhance public health data exchange interoperability. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee to the Director recommended that CDC and ONC work with state, territory, local, and tribal partners to develop and implement a coordinated, phased approach to certification for public health use cases. In HTI-2, we plan to address new ways to advance health IT for public health through certification requirements. Our work on public health aligns with the CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative, and I am thankful to have CDC as a strategic partner.
We also expect to propose new provisions related to the certification for application programming interfaces (APIs) focused on use cases such as electronic prior authorization (ePA), patient engagement, care management, and care coordination. APIs are well established as a secure mechanism to move information nimbly to where it needs to go, and ONC recognizes the continued potential of standards-based APIs in areas like ePA—where electronically completing prior authorization can impact the speed at which care is received. As another example, APIs are critical to patient engagement with providers. Identifying ways to support such interactions is an overall priority for ONC.
The above areas are just one part of ONC’s approach to having a holistic impact on care delivery through health IT. We intend in HTI-2 to also address another key part of the conversation—information sharing. We expect to propose new provisions to support information sharing by deterring the occurrence of information blocking. Any proposals would be responsive to what we are seeing across the care landscape and responsive to the evolution of information sharing since the Cures Act Final Rule was released, which finalized ONC’s information blocking framework to implement Section 4004 of the 21st Century Cures Act.
We are not slowing down. Our work to support patients, to help providers as they seek to provide care, and to create clear expectations for the entire care continuum when it comes to health IT is ongoing. We thank you for joining us in this work and for your continued feedback and engagement. Once the HTI-2 proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, we look forward to receiving your comments. We encourage you to tell us where we got it right and where more work needs to be done to get it right.
Quite simply, your feedback helps us to advance ONC’s vision of Better Health Enabled by Data. Thank you!
This article was originally published on the Health IT Buzz and is syndicated here with permission.