Dive Brief:
- In a report to Congress, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said that "information blocking" is a serious problem that will likely will become more pronounced as HIT expectations and technological capabilities continue to evolve and mature.
- The report says that "based on the evidence and knowledge available, it is apparent that some healthcare providers and health IT developers are knowingly interfering with the exchange or use of electronic health information in ways that limit its availability and use to improve health and health care."
- The report outlines several actions the ONC, HHS and other federal agencies can take to address the problem.
Dive Insight:
None of of this likely comes as a big surprise to providers, struggling with siloed data that many say IT vendors treat as a competitive advantage.
Some of the actions proposed by the ONC include strengthening in-the-field surveillance of health IT certified by the ONC, constraining standards and implementation specifications, promoting greater transparency in certified health IT products and services, establishing governance rules that deter information blocking, working with the HHS Office for Civil Rights to improve stakeholder understanding of the HIPAA privacy and security standards related to information sharing and referring illegal business practices to appropriate law enforcement agencies.
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