Interoperability

Officials uncovered 'significant risks' and irregularities during rollout, raising concerns about a viable final product, a spokesperson says.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT said it can harness data it already has to help providers make better electronic health record purchasing decisions.

U.S. Senators and Representatives introduced a bill on Wednesday that would reduce the meaningful use reporting period from a full year to 90 days – and do so in 2016, a move pressed by healthcare organizations across the country. Sens. Rob Portman and Michael Bennet and Reps. Renee Ellmers, Tom Price, Bobby Rush and Ron Kind introduced bipartisan legislation. CHIME, the Medical Group Management Association, the National Rural Health Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and physician groups, not only support the bill, but have also pressed lawmakers for it. Many of the organizations wrote CMS on March 15, asking for a 90-day reporting period for 2016. [Also: Healthcare providers press CMS for 90-day meaningful use reporting] “A preliminary yet critical step to facilitate increased provider success, we respectfully request CMS adopt for the 2016 reporting year the same 90-day reporting period policy for participants in the Meaningful Use program that was offered in 2015,” they wrote to CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt. CMS required a full year reporting period last year, but later reduced the requirement to 90 days in a rule that also reduced the number of meaningful use, Stage 2 requirements. Twitter: @Bernie_HITN Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

More widespread implementation of gaps in care programs is essential to realizing the value of population health management, according to a new report from the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange. In its study, "Closing Gaps in Care through Health Data Exchange," WEDI defines those gaps as the discrepancy between evidence-based best practices and the care that's actually delivered to the patient. At too many providers, that chasm is still too wide, according to the report. Better IT infrastructure – enabling more robust exchange health data, automating identification of information gaps and streamlining care coordination – is needed to bridge it. Toward that end, WEDI offers five key takeaways: 1. Education and communication are essential to making providers aware of the value of identifying and closing gaps in care. "Providers appear to lag behind health plans in implementing gaps in care programs," according to the report. "Challenges include the lack of sufficient resources or education about how to maximize workflow changes and effectively close gaps in care." 2. Gaps in care can adversely affect provider performance. "Surveyed providers are significantly more concerned than health plans that gaps in care pose a threat to their organization by affecting clinical performance, financial performance and the ability to retain patients," according to WEDI. 3. Programs to address gaps in care offer a high return on investment. "Improvements were observed in quality outcomes such as access to behavioral healthcare, pediatric and adolescent check-ups and medication adherence," according to the report. "Reductions in utilization of ambulatory care, hospital admission and hospital readmission were also observed." 4. Better consensus is needed to develop and standardize quality measures and methodologies for data exchange among payers, providers and patients. "The terminology, standardization and scope of gaps in care measures need more clear definition and alignment between health plans and providers before actionable data harmonization can occur," WEDI researchers say. "Best practices need to be disseminated that illustrate stakeholder roles, automation of workflow and quality improvement. The report also points to other barriers such as the "provenance, quality, completeness, timeliness, transparency and accuracy of data." More widespread use of open API and element - based exchange could help address these 5. Fixing care gaps will only grow in importance as value-based models evolve and access to care and coverage expands. "As newly eligible consumers continue to enter the health insurance marketplace and access healthcare, it will be essential for stakeholders to develop effective healthcare communication, prevention and education and intervention strategies to improve the quality of patient-centered care," the report says. "As we increasingly grow fee-for-value arrangements in our nation, it is critical that we look to methods  automate gaps-in-care – to not only ensure that data moves seamlessly between clinical systems and payment systems but that the information is useful and actionable for clinicians and patients," WEDI founder and former HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, MD, said in a statement. Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Claiming that it was "startled" by VA officials' recent testimony, the committee put strict conditions on full funding that a Senate committee already approved.

National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD, is stepping away from the co-chair role on the ONC Health IT Policy Committee. Kathleen Blake, MD, vice president of performance improvement at the American Medical Association, will replace DeSalvo, according to Politico, which reported the announcement was made Tuesday at the joint meeting of the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees. Blake will serve alongside DeSalvo's current co-chair, Paul Tang, MD, chief innovation and technology officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Tang is also the head of ONC's meaningful use workgroup.  [Also: How satisfied are you with your EHR? Satisfaction Survey results]  DeSalvo currently serves as both National Coordinator for Health IT and Acting Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services. She's been with ONC since January 2014. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell brought DeSalvo to HHS in October 2014 to help coordinate the federal government respond to the Ebola outbreak – touting her public health qualifications after having served as New Orleans Health Commissioner in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In May 2015, President Barack Obama appointed DeSalvo HHS Acting Assistant Secretary for Health. If she gets a Senate confirmation hearing and is approved, she would step down from the National Coordinator post at ONC.   Twitter: SullyHIT Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

The potential next EHR would more closely resemble modern interfaces such as Google and Facebook and leverage FHIR, if the VA indeed opts to move away from VistA. Undersecretary David Shulkin said the department is evaluating the best way forward. 

DeSalvo, Acting Assitant Secretary for DHHS, talks with Justin Barnes about some of the announcements made at HIMSS16 from the federal government and the agenda going forward.

As part of the Vermont Health Care Innovation Project, the Green Mountain State has tapped Boston-based PatientPing for data exchange among its hospitals.

The industry veteran said he envisions a focus on ‘life experience’ in healthcare that delivers precise treatments that are better suited to patients’ specific needs.