Summary of Commerce Committee Hearing: Consumer Perspectives

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation convened a May 1 hearing  “Consumer Perspectives: Policy Principles for a Federal Data Privacy Framework”. This is an important issue for eHI and its members. Key highlights are below, along with links to witness testimony.

Some Important Questions asked by Senators:

• In the GDPR, consumers are given the right to see all data collected by companies about themselves, will this lead to less privacy for consumers because companies will be less likely to throw away data they are not using?
• Are there American companies that are having non-compliance issues in the EU in regard to the GDPR?
• Why it
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TEFCA: What's new?

TEFCA: What’s New?

Overview

Draft 2 of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) was released on April 19, 2019, and ONC has issued a deadline for comments on June 17, 2019. The input of eHI and other organizations on TEFCA Draft 1 was taken into consideration for this iteration.  The new TEFCA process will be overseen by a private sector Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) to be selected by ONC and operated through a cooperative agreement. A major building block of TEFCA is the Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN). 

ONC’s TEFCA Draft 2 documents and related materials can be found HERE.

Included in ONC’s TEFCA Draft 2 packet...

EMMA’S CLIFF NOTES ON TUESDAY’S HELP HEARING – MARCH 26, 2019

IMPLEMENTING THE 21^ST CENTURY CURES ACT: MAKING ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS, MARCH 26, 2019, SENATE HELP COMMITTEE, 10:00 AM EST

EMMA’s CLIFF NOTES ON TUESDAY’s HELP HEARING – MARCH 26, 2019

I took notes on the testimony and questioning at Tuesday’s Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Hearing on electronic health information, interoperability and privacy. A lot of valuable information was shared. I have provided a snapshot below along with links to the testimony. Let me know what you thought of the hearing and my comments. Please note any opinions or comments are purely my own and do not reflect the viewpoints of eHealth Initiative...

Is Using Health IT “Desk Work”?

How Population Health Influences Network Constructs

There are two constructs of care networks. One is the network analysis and perspective of a group of clinicians having either a direct or indirect set of relationships that leads to a flow of patients; and then there's the behavioral flow of patients.

Why EHRs Will Have Different Documentation Requirements for Biosimilar Dispensing, Administration, and Outcomes

While a second biosimilar recently being approved in the United States does not a tsunami make, biosimilars are nonetheless expected to quickly become mainstream. In response, stakeholders are beginning to work on how to make them safe and useful within the parameters of today’s healthcare system because, biosimilars – like biologics – are made from living organisms, which makes them very different from today’s conventional drugs.

Veteran Physician Dody Fisher, MD on a Mission to Improve Outcomes

Drawing on her long track record of innovation and forward-thinking, internist Dorothy (Dody) Fisher, M.D. has joined Forward Health Group as Chief Clinical Officer. With the goal of helping Forward Health Group client physicians make the transition to value-based care, Dr. Fisher will work to help physicians and care teams maintain their deep sense of mission, to help them deliver one-on-one care in this new era of population health management.

The New Medicare Physician Payment Model Under MACRA: Initial Observations – Part 1

I recently returned from GE Healthcare Digital’s major customer meeting, Centricity LIVE. While at this meeting, which provided many opportunities to speak with customers about their priorities, I presented on the new CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP) called for by the 2015 Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which sets out a path to value-based Medicare physician payment.

The New Medicare Physician Payment Model Under MACRA: Initial Observations – Part 2

In Part 1 of this post, I provided an overview of the new Medicare Quality Payment Program (QPP) proposed in response to the 2015 Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which sets out a path to value-based Medicare physician payment. The CMS proposed rule implementing MACRA was released April 27; comments are due June 27. In Part 2, I summarize healthcare IT (HIT) implications of the QPP and provide my initial observation on the proposed rule.

First We Fix the Data, Then We Make it Work for Us

The healthcare industry amasses a tremendous amount of clinical data from which it gets far less value than it should. One issue is the lack of consistent, or perhaps I should say persistent, data stewardship with many errors and omissions negatively impacting clinicians. A second issue is a failure to put clinical data to work in meaningful ways, including the identification of trends and patterns (your most at-risk patients), or — at a much higher system level — reducing network leakage and creating effective measurement initiatives. Addressing these issues will be essential to achieving meaningful progress toward healthcare industry goals — and it’s really not as difficult as it seems.

Health IT, Value-Based Payment, and Innovation: Let’s Get it Right

Medicare is shifting rapidly to value-based and integrated care. Notably, the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) initiated major changes in Medicare physician payment. In addition to ending the long reviled Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) used to update Medicare professionals’ payments, MACRA creates two new value-based programs, which will rely on interoperable health IT (HIT). Payments will be affected by these models starting in 2019 (likely based on 2017 performance). The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has the lead, with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) focused on HIT aspects.

Almost One-Third of Physicians Would Switch EHRs for Electronic Prior Authorization

Ask a physician about prior authorization and you will probably get an earful. Called “time-consuming, expensive and frustrating,” prior authorization is the biggest headache facing doctors today. Healthcare providers are acutely aware of the headaches that prior authorization cause and the resources it consumes. Some physicians are forced to hire dedicated administrative staff to handle prior authorizations just to keep up. And yet, many electronic health record (EHR) companies are unaware that 28 percent of their physician customers have said they would switch electronic health records companies in order to have electronic prior authorization (ePA) capability1.

Does the Uberification of Healthcare Make Sense?

Disrupting business models is in vogue; wherever you turn there’s a new startup, a new idea, and another way to turn healthcare on it’s head. The symbol of this new way of thinking, a veritable talisman representing the crux of disruption, is a company called Uber, a yardstick by which every enterprise must be measured. It’s become hard to pick up any media without reading about the “uberification” of healthcare, the ways in which these disruptive business models will fundamentally remold medical care delivery, but does the hype exceed our expectation?

Today I’m going to run through some crucial areas where I believe healthcare and Uber diverge.

Before the true believers gather...

When "Shark Tank” and Health Tech Meet, Innovation Thrives

Have you seen the show “Shark Tank?” I had the chance to act as a “shark” this week for an innovative challenge where entrepreneurs took to the stage to pitch their best health tech ideas. I have the privilege of representing the AMA as the secretary of the eHealth Initiative (eHI), a non-profit multi-stakeholder organization committed to improving health and healthcare through information technology. The group just held its iTHRIVE Challenge, receiving 60 “pitches” from entrepreneurs. The pitches were viewed online 15,000 times and 1,000 people voted on the pitches to select 12 finalists who presented them in Washington, D.C.

When is a Mobile App a Medical Device? The Future of Healthcare May Depend on the Answer

I’ve spoken before on how mobile health apps and devices can expand the ability of healthcare providers to customize treatment for patients. An important part of making that happen is the ability of app developers to quickly get innovative products to market. But one big hurdle has been the uncertainty around regulation.

Mobile health apps exist in a gray zone between medical devices, which are highly regulated, and computer applications, which aren’t regulated much at all. When an app is used to facilitate communication between a medical device, such as a blood pressure monitor and a mobile phone that transmits data to a physician’s office, does that app become part of a...

eHealth Initiative & Philips Healthcare Partner Up for the CIBR Annual Technology Showcase

On April 29th the Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research (CIBR) held its 5th annual Medical Technology Showcase in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Building. The goal for the annual event is to highlight the impact imaging research has on patients, academic research institutions and industry through collaborative imaging technology displays.

In total, the event was attended by Members of Congress, Congressional staff, program staff from NIH, patient organizations, imaging society leadership and academic radiology research departments.

Philips Healthcare partnered with the University of Chicago Medicine and eHealth Initiative to participate in this annual showcase to demonstrate and educate the value of research and health information technology can improve...

Blog: The Summer of Interoperability

The summer (and early fall) of 2022 promises to bring critical milestones for interoperability and data access, tying together many strands linking back to the 2009 HITECH legislation (i.e., Meaningful Use and its successors) and the 2016 21st Century Cures (Cures) legislation. Community participants with an interest in data sharing and interoperability, including those with regulatory compliance responsibilities, will want to track these events very closely.