Public policy org calls for EHR interoperability to better measure device efficacy

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a research and public policy organization, is calling on Congress to assess the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s interoperability efforts as they prove essential to review medical devices.

The comments came in response to a request for input from the Senate Finance Committee on the use of health data to better understand the effect of new medical products on patient outcomes.

In a letter sent to Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the organization said that currently it is “virtually impossible” for patients, physicians, manufacturers and payers, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), to assess the performance of different devices and whether they are right for each patient. Recent failures with implantable defibrillator leads “demonstrate that it takes us too long to identify problems.”

Pew Charitable Trusts recommends registries to ensure the delivery of timely, actionable information on devices to all stakeholders, but the failure of systems to interoperate slows this down. “This lack of interoperability …hinders the ability for registries to extract clinical and outcomes data from EHRs. Instead, registries must develop the ability to extract information from the EHR systems at each facility, or require manual entry from providers,” according to the letter.

“We urge the committee to assess the status of interoperability efforts by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and elsewhere and lend assistance as needed,” the organization wrote.

Pew Charitable Trusts also stressed the importance of incorporating UDI in claims with providers, including CMS, to better evaluate outcomes for patients with devices.

Read the full letter here.