“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is pushing forward several application program interface solutions and policy efforts to continue moving toward a connected, interoperable electronic health record system.”
“At a roundtable for the Defense Department and Department of Veterans Affairs Wednesday, CMS Deputy Chief Health Informatics Officer Alexandra Mugge presented the agency’s progress in working toward interoperable health care systems within the timeline framework of the agency’s Interoperability and Patient Access Proposed Rule — a plan CMS released early last year that emphasizes patients’ ability to access their health information.”
“The proposed rule provides a timeline of policies that support interoperability across all CMS stakeholders — a unique aspect in that most CMS rules are focused on individual populations the agency serves. In total, this effort would impact 125 million patients.”
“CMS’s Interoperability and Patient Access Proposed Rule built off of preexising initiatives, such as making data available in the Virtual Research Data Center and the launches of MyHealthEData and Blue Button 2.0. Throughout 2019, providers then became required to use 2015 Edition Certified EHR Technology, and CMS pushed to promote interoperability requirements for providers.”
“Moving forward this year, Mugge underscored the importance of APIs. This year, for instance, the rule calls for APIs to make payer provider directories and patient healthcare claims information available.”
“As CMS builds out these APIs over the course of 2020, CMS Innovation Center models will require interoperability and health data exchange, and payers must participate in trust networks for health information exchange.”
“By late 2020, there will be public reporting of providers and hospitals that block data or do not have an electronic address. These steps reinforce EHR interoperability across the board for all stakeholders for the sake of the patient…” Read the full article here.
Source: CMS Aims to Expand APIs to Increase EHR Interoperability – By Melissa Harris, January 29, 2020. GovernmentCIO.
