DeSalvo optimistic on HIT's future
National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, authored a blog post for Health Affairs, based on her keynote address at the 2015 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, about her optimism for the future of health IT.
The post outlines a three-step approach to interoperability:
- First, we need to standardize standards, including APIs, and implementation standards.
- Second, we need to have clarity about the trust environment—what are the shared expectations and actions around data security and privacy?
- And third, we need to incentivize, in a durable and sustainable way, interoperability and the appropriate uses of electronic health information—all with the goal to advance health care and health.
ONC issued its draft interoperability roadmap in January and earlier this month its report to Congress on information blocking by certain EHR vendors and even some providers. DeSalvo wrote that we can expect another report on trust. “To define the trust environment, we are working with states on one of their top priorities: harmonizing privacy policy and regulations, and we have been working on defining the rules of the road for governance and how to hold people accountable to them.”
Despite the skepticism and criticism coming from Congress during recent hearings, DeSalvo wrote that she appreciates their interest. “Congress is our partner. I am excited to see their interest in making sure that health data is available for consumers, and our doctors, when and where it matters most." She also called on the private sector and states to get involved. “I am optimistic because I am seeing collaboration like never before from the private sector. Look at the Argonauts—the coalition of technologists and developers who are collaborating in an unprecedented fashion—who are accelerating the maturation of FHIR, to see that we have a safe, but highly usable new technology that stands to transform the health IT ecosystem.”
FHIR is the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard from Health Level Seven that has received much support among policymakers.
“We know for a fact that unless we have the health information technology, including interoperability right, we will not bring payment reform or better care models like the medical home to scale.”
Read the complete blog post.
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.