Interoperability on the radar during HIT Week

This week is the eighth annual National Health IT Week which offers an opportunity for the federal government and industry associations to shine the spotlight on their initiatives, goals and successes.

Robert Tagalicod, director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of eHealth & Standards, discussed the convergence of Meaningful Use, ICD-10, quality measurements, administration simplification and health information exchange. All of these efforts require, build and foster interoperability.

Tagalicod discussed the construction of the building blocks that are becoming the federal health IT infrastructure. The essential building blocks are there but he said the need now is determining the priorities. “What are the right building blocks that fit in the right time at the right place to get to the outcomes we’re talking about?”

CMS also hosted the Consumer Health IT Summit this week, which brought together federal officials, healthcare organizations and industry representatives to discuss efforts to equip and empower patients to better manage their health and how Blue Button fits into this work.

Lygeia Ricciardi, director of the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT's Office of Consumer eHealth, shared the stage with Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, national coordinator for health IT, and discussed Blue Button, or downloadable health information that now is structured so third-party app developers can parse and integrate it into their innovations. These standards were developed by 68 organizations and led to the development of Blue Button guidelines, Ricciardi said.

Ricciardi said the healthcare organizations that have pledged to use Blue Button reach about 100 million Americans. She cited efforts by Pfizer, which is allowing patients to download clinical trials information, and Kaiser, which is rolling out Direct Protocol to bolster interoperability.

“This is one way government leads by example,” said Mostashari.

Tagalicod said the requirements of information exchange in Meaningful Use Stage 2 incents use of Blue Button. “We are looking at Blue Button and Blue Button+, and looking at ways of sharing information in ways that are truly useful to beneficiaries,” he said. “We are not only looking at Medicare beneficiaries, but rolling it out in the marketplace.”

Is your organization experiencing advances in interoperability and patient engagement as well? Please share your experience.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor