Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced many of the nation's leading technology companies and several of the nation's largest health systems have pledged to implement actions to improve interoperability. She made the announcement on Feb. 29 in a keynote address at HIMSS16, the national meeting of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society being held in Las Vegas.
Burwell, who applauded the efforts by participants to effectively share data in a secure manner, said companies that provide 90 percent of electronic health records used by hospitals nationwide, along with a number of the largest health systems, have agreed to implement three core commitments:
• Improve consumer access to help people easily and securely access their EHRs and direct it to any desired location,
• Prevent blocking to help providers share an individual's health information with other providers and their patients whenever permitted by law, and
• Implement federally recognized, national interoperability standards, policies, guidelines and best practices.
A number of Middle Tennessee organizations have signed the pledge. Companies with a strong local tie who have agreed to work collaboratively to meet the core commitments include: HCA, Community Health Systems, LifePoint Health, Ascension Health (parent of Saint Thomas Health) and MEDHOST. In addition, large HIT developers Allscripts, Aprima, Cerner, GE Healthcare, Intel, McKesson, Phillips and Optum are among those joining in the pledge.
“MEDHOST is committed to making health information accessible to consumers and healthcare providers across the continuum of care,” said Bill Anderson, chairman and CEO of the market-leading enterprise, departmental and healthcare engagement solutions firm based in Franklin. “We have made significant investments in consumer-centric solutions that promote healthy populations and provide consumers with tools they need to manage their health. Our enterprise solutions are fully interoperable and support more than 1,100 healthcare facilities in improving clinical, financial and operational performance. We look forward to continuing to work with other industry leaders to break down data silos and achieve an interoperable healthcare system.”
The pledge represents an important step in securing stakeholder support and consumer engagement as part of the Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap published in 2015 by HHS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, said he was proud to add the name of the national organization to those taking the pledge. "Achieving a seamless flow of health information to support care and engage patients will require action from all stakeholders, including vendors, providers and policymakers," Pollack said. "Greater sharing of health information holds the promise of making care better for patients and communities," he continued. "With collaborative efforts to improve existing technology and infrastructure, we will be closer to achieving interoperability that allows for safe and secure access of health information by patients and across the healthcare system."
Similarly, the American Medical Association also took the pledge. “Patients and physicians are in this effort together because patients need easy access to their electronic health information, confident that it is secure and can be shared to benefit their health, and physicians need these electronic records to be interoperable to ensure that patients are receiving the best care possible," said AMA President Steven J. Stack, MD. “Yet, physicians have trouble finding products that can help them achieve this. With so many vendors signing this pledge as well, we look forward to a marketplace where the promise of electronic health records is finally fulfilled.”
Stack added, “We commend HHS for bringing so many stakeholders together, all of whom have an interest in using technology to result in a healthier and more efficient health care system."
To see a full list of the organizations and their pledges, click here.