“The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is gearing up to help organizations succeed with all phases of the interoperability rule, focused mainly on moving a range of health IT levers in unison in both the short and long term, according to the newly appointed national coordinator for health IT, Micky Tripathi, PhD, MMP.”
“Whether it is information blocking, patient data exchange, or interoperability, Tripathi said ONC’s goal is to ‘pull all of those levers so that they’re working as an orchestra’ by correctly pulling them at the right time, and most importantly, in the same direction…”
“As of April 5, 2021, healthcare providers, certified health IT developers, and health information exchanges (HIEs) needed to abide by the information blocking regulations. Yet, Tripathi wants healthcare organizations to look at the larger picture, with several compliance dates on the horizon within the next 18 months…”
“The ONC Head added the organization plans to use the next 18 months to get stakeholders accustomed to patient data exchange within structured limits defined under USCDI. Once stakeholders have a better grasp on standardized patient data definitions over the next 18 months, stakeholders can move on to unstructured data.”
“’Once that 18 months is over, it is everything. It’s text notes, transcriptions, and other kinds of documents. The only way that we’ll be able to get our arms around that is using algorithms, machine learning, and other kinds of approaches, such as natural language processing, to be able to take advantage of on behalf of the patient, on behalf of better quality, to be able to take advantage of that broader, comprehensive information that’s available.’”
“Although 18 months might seem like a long time, it’s vital for healthcare stakeholders to begin that complicated learning process right away, Tripathi recommended…” Read the full article here.
Source: ONC Leader Tripathi Offers Tips for Interoperability Rule Success — By Christopher Jason, April 22, 2021. EHR Intelligence.
