What industry leaders think about the new proposed interoperability rules
Rules proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) in February 2019 focus on interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs) to make patient data more useful and transferrable. CMS proposed the Interoperability and Patient Access Proposed Rule, which includes policy changes to support its My HealthEData initiative. ONC’s proposed rule “promotes secure and more immediate access to health information for patients and their healthcare providers and new tools allowing for more choice in care and treatment.”
Several industry leaders have responded to the new proposed CMS and ONC rules in a positive manner. As reported by Health Data Management, “Matt Eyles, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said that healthcare payers are committed to establishing new, innovative ways to integrate and share data with patients and providers.” Eyles noted that “AHIP and our members support seamless access to health information by providers and patients to make better choices about care and treatment.”
Organizations such as the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) support interoperability of electronic health information and have asked members to provide input on the new proposed rules. Liz Johnson, chief innovation officer at Tenet Healthcare and vice chair of the CHIME Policy Steering Committee, stated that “Speeding interoperability and patient access to their records are priorities for our members.”
Don Crane, president and CEO of America’s Physician Groups, noted that the proposed rules “puts power back in the hands of patients by streamlining their ability to access health information literally from the palm of their hand.” Crane added that “Having this information readily accessible can help patients and providers make more informed choices about their care more quickly. And it can help preserve valuable healthcare resources by reducing waste, such as duplicate tests and unnecessary procedures.”
CMS is accepting comments on the major provisions in this proposed rule and the RFIs (CMS-9115-P) until early April (exact date will be updated upon posting at the Federal Register); it can be downloaded from the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection.
