Coalition supports the latest 21st Century Cures Act iteration
A coalition of 31 organizations has voiced its support for the interoperability language included in the 21st Century Cures Act (HR 6) in a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The updated draft released last month includes several provisions related to interoperability such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) getting $10 million to work with a "charter organization" to create metrics to evaluate the state of interoperability within the U.S. healthcare system.
In July 2016, officials would release a report detailing whether interoperability has been achieved and the extent to which EHR vendors' software is interoperable. On Dec. 31, 2017, HHS would release a report detailing whether certain vendors' EHR software complies with particular interoperability certification requirements.
Then, in January 2018, vendors would have to confirm that their EHR software complies with several interoperability provisions, such as certain financial details on the pricing of transmitting data; having application programming interfaces that provide instructions on how to access EHR data to outside users and developers; and meeting HHS' standard of allowing "everyday" data exchange.
Vendors who don't meet the standards could have their software decertified for use under the Meaningful Use program. However, the bill gives HHS the authority to provide one- to five-year hardship exemptions to providers whose EHR software becomes decertified.
The coalition of providers, patient advocates, payers and vendors wrote in their letter praise for the effort to "address the known defects associated with interoperability." The act is "a major positive step in fixing the problems associated with a lack of interoperability."
The groups noted that while the majority of eligible hospitals and professionals use certified EHRs, just 14 percent of providers share health data outside their organization. The coalition said that it supports distinct definitions of common standards, industry-developed standards, open APIs and testing.
Read the complete letter.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.