There are plenty tools and data sharing standards available to foster a more cohesive and integrated approach to healthcare interoperability. However, providers aren't really adopting these tools, experts said during a recent panel.
Jill DeGraff, B.well Connected Health’s senior vice president of regulatory, believes the ONC’s new HTI-1 rule is a step in the right direction that will improve data exchange for providers, health tech vendors and patients. She applauded the rule for preserving TEFCA as a voluntary framework and for establishing FHIR-based interoperability as the industry’s de facto standard.
TEFCA’s goal is to establish a universal floor for interoperability across the country by developing the infrastructure model and governing approach for users in different networks to securely share basic clinical information with each other.
Developed as part of the due diligence process for the disclosure of confidential documents, VDRs provide a secure repository for all types of confidential materials including merger and acquisition (M&A) documents, financial statements, contracts, intellectual property details, and legal agreements.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is under federal investigation after it turned transgender patients’ medical records over to Tennessee’s attorney general. HHS launched the investigation a couple weeks after two VUMC patients filed a class-action lawsuit against the hospital for releasing their records to the attorney general.
Three senators recently introduced legislation that would ban the use of health data for advertising and marketing purposes. The proposed legislation comes amid media reports claiming that data brokers are selling social media companies patients' location data, as well as reports that hospitals and digital health startups are collecting patients’ online data and sharing it with tech giants such as Facebook and Google.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
GoodRx failed to notify users that it sold their personal health information to Google, Facebook and other tech companies, the FTC claimed. The agency filed an order that prohibits GoodRx from sharing its users' data with third parties for advertising purposes and requires the company to pay a $1.5 million penalty. GoodRx agreed to pay the settlement but did not admit to wrongdoing.
Healthcare could learn from the data improvement strategies that other industries have implemented in the past decade, a new report said. For example, the military, aerospace industry and aviation sector have all developed ways to standardize data, decrease silos and make information more accessible between organizations.
As we shift into a modern era of healthcare, it's becoming clear that no tool can be a one-size-fits-all solution, including most EHR systems. Supporting technology, then, needs to be implemented to ensure systems can effectively talk to one another to improve the quality of services and the performance of practices.
Most federally qualified health centers are committed to remaining independent of hospital affiliation. In order to maintain their independence, it is critical that FQHCs face work together more closely on data pooling and and sharing best practices for improving community health, according to a recent report.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
SMART-on-FHIR is the inflection point for driving the shift to value-based care. The reason: It offers another pathway to integration in which user experiences, not just discrete data, are shared across systems, enabling lightning quick implementation.
The current delay is specific to one part of the law that needed rework; it should not be seen as an indicator that interoperability will not happen.
It is imperative for health systems to form data sharing partnerships that allow for the analysis of de-identified clinical data, while effectively and comprehensively protecting patient information.
To be effective at preventing the next pandemic, everyone will have to play their part, from global agencies and governments right down to individuals. At all levels, digital and data must drive our planning and preparation.
It will take a combination of legislation to protect patient data privacy by governing communication between apps and the power of innovation and the free market, but these apps are coming. And they will put control of health data where it belongs – with patients.
