Plenty of action in health IT this week but the most significant developments centered around interoperability and privacy and security.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken the first steps toward a national cyberthreat information sharing system with a $150,000 grant to Texas provider Harris Health System.

Harris Health will identify the cybersecurity information needs and gaps of healthcare organizations and propose a strategy for enhancing the sharing of cybersecurity information among the federal government and private sector partners.

Meanwhile, a group of New York residents whose health data were compromised during a data hack are suing the state's largest health insurance providers alleging negligence.

The class action lawsuit against Excellus Health Plan and Lifetime Healthcare says hackers gained access to the defendants' data systems and then operated undetected for the next 20 months.

Comments on the federal interoperability are rolling in and so far, stakeholders say it’s not enough.

The American Academy of Family Physicians said it does “not sense the necessary level of urgency to achieve this important goal.” The American Hospital Association issued a report criticizing the current state of interoperability and said the issue is one of the “most pressing issues facing healthcare stakeholders today.”

Much more to come in the coming weeks.

Beth Walsh
Clinical Innovation + Technology editor