Better health IT policies, including national interoperability standards, are essential for the US healthcare industry as it continues to rely on health IT, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA).
In a letter to the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the AHA said that the importance of a strong health IT infrastructure is becoming more necessary. Moreover, shared health information will give clinicians and patients the data they need to promote health and make informed treatment decisions.Image may be NSFW.
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“Bringing together information from across settings creates the ability to better manage individual and population health,” the letter stated. “While deploying these technologies to make advancements, hospitals are mindful of the need to be ever vigilant in protecting the security of increasingly large stores of electronic information.”
Essentially, comprehensive policy actions will give providers greater flexibility in deploying EHRs and can also hold vendors accountable for designing and marketing safe, interoperable products, the AHA said. Improved health IT policies could also provide better guidance on the transition to ICD-10.
In terms of interoperability specifically, the AHA explained that hospitals are discovering that they still cannot share data with others outside their organization without paying excessive amounts and putting in more work. Hospitals and providers are required to use certified EHRs, but the current health IT policies do not hold vendors responsible for how products are designed and interact with one another.
“At a minimum, ONC must fix the certification program for EHRs so that vendor products go through rigorous testing in a way that reflects real world conditions,” the AHA said. “ONC also should provide more oversight of vendors, including developing transparency metrics on vendor performance parallel to the many quality reporting programs HHS has implemented for providers.”
AHA added that true interoperability can only be attained through thorough and available testing, which should include the EHR itself and also interfaces to ancillary systems that connect to EHRs. This could include laboratory information systems.
The EHR Incentive Program also needs to be adjusted, according to the AHA. There needs to be more flexibility in order to make true progress, the agency said, highlighting three areas that must be fixed:
- Allow adequate time for hospitals and other providers to transition to Stage 2
- Remove specific requirements that hold hospitals accountable for the actions of others, but expect the technology to be in place
- Wait until a sufficient number of hospitals and physicians have met Stage 2 before setting the start date or requirements for Stage 3
“The meaningful use program has spurred remarkable growth in EHR adoption by hospitals,” the AHA stated. “However, it has become a highly proscriptive program that holds hospitals accountable for events outside of their control.”
Hospitals and providers have had difficulty adhering to the “rigid requirements,” and the AHA said it is concerned that the fast pace and broad scope of the EHR incentive programs pose significant challenges to hospitals and physicians. The smaller and more rural facilities will face even greater challenges through the incentive programs, according to the AHA.
The AHA also reiterated the fact that the healthcare industry already has privacy and security guidelines in place, and that HIPAA regulations are critical in laying out breach notification requirements and the penalties for non-compliance.
“We will continue these efforts and work with the federal government on its priorities, such as sharing information on cyber risks,” the letter stated. “As Congress considers cybersecurity issues, it must recognize that, unlike many sectors, health care already has federal statutes and regulations governing information security.”
Overall, better health IT policies can create a better environment that supports technology and how it is continuously evolving and helping in patient care. The right policies can accelerate “the transition to the health care system of the future.”
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