As Meaningful Use moved to Stage 3 (MU3) in 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) added APIs (application programming interface) as an alternative or complement to patient portals.
But are these two digital health tools at odds with each other? And where do APIs fit in with Meaningful Use Stage 3?
An API is a set of programming protocols for accessing a software application online. By inputting specific information, patients can use an API to see, download and share their health information in a way that CMS notes:
Health Executives on Digital Transformation in Healthcare
Hear executives from Quantum Health, Surescripts, EY, Clinical Architecture and Personify Health share their views on digital transformation in healthcare.
- Is more flexible than current patient portals
- Allows patients to receive their health information “from multiple [healthcare] providers and potentially incorporate all of their health information into a single portal, application, program, or other software”
- Would free hospitals up from separately purchasing and implementing patient portals
The infographic below highlights some of the questions raised by hospitals and health systems about the addition of APIs to Meaningful Use and what APIs should be able to do for patients.
MU3 requires that, beginning in 2018 (with an option to voluntarily start in 2017), providers allow for patient access to EHRs in the 4 ways stated in the infographic and that more than 80% of unique patients be able to “access that information within 48 hours of its availability to the eligible provider and 36 hours of its availability to the provider for an eligible hospital.”
Market Trends to Watch for Health Systems and Their Specialty Pharmacies
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
With APIs in the mix, some patient portals may indeed go the way of the dinosaur, because they weren’t created to add value to patient access. But other portals will likely flourish because they’ve found the “right formula” for luring patients in with APIs and keeping them there.
Betsy Weaver is the Co-Founder, CEO and President of TPR Media LLC (d.b.a, UbiCare), an innovative, national healthcare content provider and media-service company providing Internet-based healthcare communication solutions through a unique, proprietary platform. Formerly a founder of the regional parenting information niche industry, Weaver holds a master's in education and doctorate in Social Policy and Trend Analysis from Harvard University and speaks frequently on work and business in electronic media.
This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in healthcare on MedCity News through MedCity Influencers. Click here to find out how.