By David Bucciferro (Foothold Technology-Radicle Health), Outgoing Chair, EHR Association
Reflecting on 2023, the year was dominated primarily by five issues of importance to the EHR Association and its 29 member companies, all of which aligned with our overarching focus on collaborative efforts to accelerate health information and technology adoption, advance interoperability, and improve the quality and efficiency of care through the use of EHRs.
(more…)Posted by EHR Association on January 4, 2024
https://ehrablog.org/2024/01/04/looking-back-the-5-dominant-issues-of-2023/
By Hans Buitendijk (Oracle) Ex Officio Member, EHRA Executive Committee
As USCDI and USCDI+ expand, we see an increase in ambiguities in their data definitions that are creating increased challenges for programs and health IT required to support USCDI as intended. It’s of particular concern for certified health IT developers, as the ambiguity gap raises questions about what support is actually required, as HL7 FHIR US Core and HL7 CDA C-CDA specifications are used to certify to supporting USCDI.
(more…)Posted by EHR Association on December 20, 2023
https://ehrablog.org/2023/12/20/concerns-grow-over-ambiguity-of-uscdi-data-classes/
By David Bucciferro, Chair, EHR Association
While the EHR Association has long supported the goals of ONC’s proposed rule to advance interoperability, improve transparency, and support further access, exchange, and use of EHI, we have several serious concerns about the impact HTI-1 (ONC’s Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing Proposed Rule) will have on the industry if finalized as proposed.
Among the most significant are the insufficient implementation timeframes associated with various concepts included in HTI-1 and a failure to accurately consider the significant burden compliance would place on both provider organizations and health IT developers. Vendors need more time than proposed in HTI-1 to accommodate the substantial lift required to deliver safe, compliant, and high-quality versions of their certified products – 18-24 months is the commonly accepted necessary timeframe – while providers need sufficient time to implement, test and become proficient on that upgraded software.
(more…)Posted by EHR Association on June 2, 2023
https://ehrablog.org/2023/06/02/onc-needs-to-address-hti-1s-burdens-on-healthcare-providers-health-it-developers/
By Janet Campbell (Epic), EHRA Public Policy Leadership Workgroup Vice Chair
This is part two in a four-part series examining the need for ePA, the barriers presented by the current environment, necessary capabilities, and functionality, and the EHR Association’s policy recommendations. Part one can be read here.
Streamlining the electronic prior authorization (ePA) process will require significant coordination and standardization across multiple domains within individual healthcare organizations, across dozens of health plans covering their patients, and across the health IT tools in use by every participant in the process.
Progress is being made by various stakeholders in terms of standards development. Notably, the Coverage Requirements Determination (CRD), Documentation Templates and Rules (DTR), and the Prior Authorization Support (PAS) implementation guides – all a part of the Da Vinci Project’s efforts to understand functional requirements, build consensus on a technical approach, pilot, and iterate – have resulted in significant progress toward the enablement of highly automated prior authorization workflows.
(more…)Posted by EHR Association on October 13, 2022
https://ehrablog.org/2022/10/13/standards-will-make-or-break-efforts-toward-epa/
By Michael Saito (Epic), Chair & Nam Nguyen, (Allscripts) Vice Chair, EHRA Privacy & Security Workgroup
The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) ongoing objective of sharing research data sets to facilitate additional study is something EHRA member companies wholly support – as long as it protects patient privacy, ensures patients can provide informed and meaningful consent for use of their data, and minimizes the risk that patients’ genomic and other health data can be re-identified or misused.
To that end, we took advantage of the NIH’s recent Request for Information (RFI) on the proposed updates to and long-term considerations for its Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy to provide feedback in the key areas of de-identification, potentially identifiable information, and data linkages.
(more…)Posted by EHR Association on May 24, 2022
https://ehrablog.org/2022/05/24/genomic-data-sharing-policies-must-protect-patient-privacy-minimize-risk/
By Leigh Burchell (Allscripts), Chair, & Janet Campbell (Epic), Vice Chair,
EHRA Public Policy Leadership Workgroup
The growth in high deductible health plans requiring patients to shoulder more of their healthcare costs and the lack of transparency in healthcare pricing has exacerbated the issue of patients left with surprise medical bills that many cannot afford to pay. The urgent need to address these serious issues is why the EHRA supported the No Surprises Act when it was developed and welcomed the regulations published last year as a foundation upon which it can be implemented.
However, we have several concerns about rulemaking to date as it relates to workability and the unnecessary burden it creates for industry stakeholders. To that end, we reached out proactively to regulatory agencies to provide feedback in four key areas that we believe – based on our member companies’ experiences and our ongoing advocacy for reasonable timelines and requirements – will be informative when it comes to additional regulatory actions expected later this year.
(more…)Posted by EHR Association on April 6, 2022
https://ehrablog.org/2022/04/06/no-surprises-act-regulations-raise-concerns/
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