Senators tackle health IT interoperability
The Senate Appropriations Committee has drafted a bill calling on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC’s) Health IT Policy Committee to submit a report outlining barriers to EHR interoperability.
Such a report would cover the technical, operational and financial barriers to interoperability, and the role of certification in advancing or hindering interoperability across various providers. In addition, the committee must detail any other barriers identified in its findings, according to the draft bill.
In looking at the issue of “information blocking,” the lawmakers asked the committee to provide estimates on how many vendors and eligible hospitals purposely block access to data. Also, it wants the committee to formulate a comprehensive strategy to handle this issue.
Moreover, the draft bill calls ONC to decertify providers that block health information exchange because it is against congressional intent, it devalues taxpayer investments in EHR systems and it makes such systems less valuable and more difficult to use for eligible hospitals and professionals.
Read the draft bill here.