“Ciox Chief Innovation Officer Shannon West hosted a Webinar featuring Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. In light of recent information blocking changes and rapid development in the health IT environment, Tripathi and West explored topics including interoperability, FHIR adoption, regulations, and the future of technology applications in healthcare.”
“’The whole opportunity for the future of healthcare really lies in data access,’ West said, noting that ONC has been a productive partner for so many entities that are working on new applications for information flow.”
“FHIR, or Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources—an emerging technical standard for interoperability—is largely responsible for the recent surge in healthcare information flow. Adoption is growing rapidly, Tripathi reported, noting that over 80% of deployed EHR systems have some type of FHIR-based capabilities in them, supporting a richer pattern of data exchange.”
“After numerous delays, April 5, 2021, was the deadline for complying with information blocking provisions of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Interoperability and Information Blocking Final Regulation; which includes establishing API requirements using FHIR so patients can have access to and exchange their health information—structured or unstructured. Tripathi noted that this information blocking requirement has brought many considerations and variations across various settings and providers nationwide, and that the ONC is available to support affected entities with resources for clarification.”
“Instead of getting bogged down from a compliance perspective, Tripathi hopes the industry can take advantage of the opportunities the information blocking regulations bring, including better care management processes, useful smart applications, shared patient care planning, and social determinants of health applications, all made possible by FHIR. In essence, he presented in the Webinar, value-based care is the real driver of interoperability, which in turn ends up being a real driver of greater value in healthcare, enabling a “virtuous cycle” via information exchange…” Read the full article here.
Source: The Vision of ONC: Interoperability, Key Priorities and Partnerships for Success – June 15, 2021. Ciox Health.
