HIE Rundown – 1-04-19

Health Information Exchange (HIE) is happening every minute of every day. Your personal health information is moving and being viewed to improve the quality of your healthcare and lower the costs. The job will not be complete until all health records are digital and interoperable. Here’s what’s happening to make that reality.

Events

HIMSS19 – February 11-15, 2019 in Orlando FL
HIMSS Interoperability Showcase™
Hall F – Booth 9100
Satellite Locations: Booth 888

The HIMSS Interoperability Showcase ™ is the highest trafficked area of the exhibit floor and is packed with demonstration areas, a large education theater, a product marketplace and more. Our mission is to demonstrate the power of standards-based interoperability by showcasing systems exchanging and using data in real time to improve care, outcomes and experience. We strive to provide attendees with a broad picture of the opportunities and successes in the interoperability community and therefore host demonstrations on a variety of topics, such as pediatric cancer, heart failure and substance abuse treatment. At least one activity begins every 15 minutes in the showcase – from use case demonstrations to education sessions to community meetups and more.

More information about their content and schedule will be coming soon.

Save the Date! 2019 State Healthcare IT Connect Summit
The 2019 State Healthcare IT Connect Summit (@HealthITCONNECT) marks the 10th anniversary of the program. The conference, being held March 18-20, 2019, has grown and evolved into an important national venue for public and private sector thought leaders to share ideas and benchmark implementation strategies of State Health IT Systems.

Tune in to HealthcareNOW Radio weekdays at 4:00am, 12 noon, and 8:00pm ET to Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist. Dr. Nick is talking to Mark Scrimshire, CMS Blue Button Innovator & Developer Evangelist.

News and Noted

HL7 Publishes FHIR® Release 4
As the global authority for interoperability in health care information technology with affiliates in 35 countries, they are excited to announce the publication of Release 4 of the HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) standard. This new version is the culmination of 18 months of extensive work to finalize the base parts of the specification and incorporates changes and enhancement requests received from implementation partners around the world.

Mercy Health Network Partners with PatientPing to Improve Transitions of Care Across Iowa
PatientPing (@PatientPing), a health technology company that connects providers to seamlessly coordinate patient care, announced its launch in the state of Iowa through its partnership with the Mercy Health Network (MHN), and its accountable care organization (ACO), Mercy ACO. Building on the regional health system of Mercy Health Network, Mercy ACO is an integrated delivery system with locations throughout Iowa and Northeastern Nebraska. The partnership with PatientPing will enable Mercy Health Network to succeed under its value-based care initiatives, while also focusing on its priority of personalizing patient care.

Day 7: “Seven Swans a Swimming” Signals New Era of Health Data Exchange in 2019
The line “seven swans a swimming” from the classic Twelve Days of Christmas has been on my mind lately. I see swans gliding past my house on the Chesapeake Bay during the day, and hear them always “cooing” at night, as I drift off to sleep. What does this have to do with Health IT? Well, swans symbolize grace and beauty – and over the past year there have been many swan-ly signs in the area of health data exchange: Continue reading on HITECH Answers.

The Sequoia Project
The Sequoia Project (@SequoiaProject) was chartered to advance the implementation of secure, interoperable nationwide health information exchange. The ONC transitioned management of its eHealth Exchange to The Sequoia Project for maintenance. Since 2012, the Exchange has grown to become the largest health information exchange network in the country.

The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative
SHIEC (@SHIEClive) is the National Trade Association for Health Information Exchange Organizations. It is routine for important data about patients’ ongoing care to reside in multiple unconnected organizations. SHIEC member HIEs use information technology and trusted relationships in their service areas to enable secure, authorized exchange of patient information among disparate providers. By providing enhanced access to all available and relevant patient data SHIEC HIE members aim to improve the quality, coordination, and cost-effectiveness of health care provided in their communities. Read their news feed.

The CommonWell
CommonWell Health Alliance (@CommonWell) is devoted to the simple vision that health data should be available to individuals and providers regardless of where care occurs. Additionally, provider access to this data must be built-in health IT at a reasonable cost for use by a broad range of health care providers and the people they serve.

CommonWell Health Alliance Announces General Availability of Carequality Connection
CommonWell Health Alliance announced the rollout of its connection to the Carequality Framework, which is now Generally Available to CommonWell members and will increase health IT connectivity nationwide. The connection will allow CommonWell- and Carequality-enabled health care providers, through some of the industry’s largest participating EHR vendors, to connect and bilaterally exchange health data to improve care coordination and delivery.

Resources

HealthDataAnswers.net

Interoperability and the Quest to Solve Healthcare’s Seemingly Unsolvable Problem

Despite years of effort, healthcare has yet to achieve true interoperability. Physicians, health systems, vendors and the government all claim to back initiatives that support the sharing of healthcare data between providers. Yet very few hospitals today can pull up the complete medical history of a single patient coming through their ER doors – and thus the quest for healthcare interoperability remains very much alive.

Download this new e-book from Medicomp that is sharing the untold story of interoperability. It is exploring the reality of the current landscape, why progress has been so slow and how we can collaborate to deliver safer, more cost-effective patient care.

News From…

ONC Interoperability Pledge
Companies that provide 90 percent of electronic health records used by hospitals nationwide as well as the top five largest health care systems in the country have agreed to implement three core commitments: Consumer Access, No Blocking/Ensuring Transparency, and Standards. The ONC (@ONC_HealthIT) wants vendors to sign a pledge. Is your vendor pledging? Find out who is on the list.

eHealth Initiative Resource Center
Interoperability Files – Check out the new white paper resource in the eHealth Initiative’s (@eHealthDC) Resource Center: The value of learning health systems in disease control and aging