Healthcare leaders in the US see the proposed regulations to drive interoperability across the ecosystem, as a base level to improve operations from
The proposed rules by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology aim to improve the ability to share electronic medical information with different patients, providers, and caregivers. The rules are expected to be finalized by the administration by the end of 2019 and the provisions to get to effect by January 2020.
The proposed rules by CMS and ONC will make it easier for patients, providers, and other stakeholders to have better and improved access to the information that is necessary to coordinate for individual care. The systems under the new rules also help analyze health trends, costs, and outcomes.
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According to Deloitte’s ‘Data Interoperability EHR Survey’ of 70 payers and providers, the health systems have to go beyond what the IT vendors are currently providing to achieve the level of interoperability that is envisioned by the federal regulations.
According to the survey, 43% of the health system and 63% of health plan leaders might use the compliance requirements with their broader interoperability strategy. More than half of respondents are also building their own application programming interface solutions.
Some strategies involve completely using in-house designed APIs or a hybrid approach with self-built infrastructure and vendor-provided services. To achieve compliance in time, experts recommended that health systems must prioritize a set of initiatives to achieve compliance in time.
The Deloitte report suggests establishing longer-term goals to adopt digital tools and enhance consumer engagement, as well as evaluate overall risk management and consent strategies to use data.
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Interoperability is the key enabling feature of the extensive digital transformation that affects the healthcare ecosystem. It requires access to data through secure and open platforms. Experts believe that the health care organizations that fail to look beyond the new proposed compliance deadlines and do not realize the higher value of interoperability and data might risk falling behind.
A recent report by the Center for Connected Medicine/HIMSS Media that surveyed healthcare technology leaders, reveals that most hospitals and health systems still depend on a single, integrated HER. This indicates that health data sharing is lacking inside as well as outside of hospitals.
Experts look at the new rules and the regulatory requirements on interoperability as an opportunity that organizations must leverage as a jumping-off point to plan the broader strategy for sharing data with stakeholders and with patients. Developing and implementing a strategic approach to interoperability can provide a competitive advantage with affordability, insights, and consumer engagement.
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Meeta Ramnani is the Senior Editor with OnDot Media. She writes about technologies including AI, IoT, Cloud, Big Data, Blockchain across various industries with a focus on Digital Transformation. An avid bike rider, Meeta, is a postgraduate from Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM) Bangalore, where her specialization was Business Journalism. She carries four years of experience in mainstream print media where she worked as a correspondent with The Times Group and Sakal Media Group in Pune.
