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.
DirectTrust Reports Strong Growth in Direct Transactions, Number of Direct Exchange Addresses and Users
DirectTrust (@DirectTrustorg) announced continued strong growth in the number of health care organizations using DirectTrust interoperability services during 2017, as well as an upsurge in the number of DirectTrust addresses and message transactions nationwide. DirectTrust is a non-profit health care industry alliance created to support secure, identity-verified electronic exchanges of personal health information (PHI) between provider organizations, and between provider and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care.
HL7 Announces Winners of FHIR Applications Roundtable of Real-World FHIR Solutions
Health Level Seven® International (HL7®) (@HL7), the global authority for interoperability in healthcare information technology and home to the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) standard, announced the winners of the third FHIR® applications roundtable, an event focused on showcasing FHIR-based solutions in use in today’s healthcare industry. The organization also announced that the presentation slides and video recordings are now freely available to view on the HL7 website.
Change Healthcare Announces General Availability of First Enterprise-Scale Blockchain Solution for Healthcare
Change Healthcare (@Change_HC) announced that its Intelligent Healthcare Network™ with blockchain is now available featuring claims management transparency, making it the first enterprise-scale blockchain in healthcare. Leveraging blockchain technology, organizations can accurately track, in real time, the status of claims submission and remittance across the complete claim lifecycle.
News from the ONC
Secure API Server Showdown Challenge: Stage 2 Registration Now Open – Registration is now open for Stage 2 of the latest ONC challenge – the Secure API Server Showdown. Stage 2 participants will further harden open source FHIR servers by dedicated testing of their security components. Participants will test the winning FHIR servers from Stage 1 and identify potential security vulnerabilities for a chance to win cash prizes. The deadline to register for Stage 2 is Monday, February 5, 2018 by 11:59 pm ET. Participants can sign up via the Stage 2 Registration Form on the challenge website.
Now Available: 2018 Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) Reference Edition – The Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA), an interactive catalog of standards and implementation specifications supporting interoperability in healthcare, has been updated following the public review and comment period that ended on November 20, 2017. The 2018 ISA Reference Edition incorporates many of the comments received, and is intended to provide a “snapshot in time” view of the ISA for the new year. Additional changes and functionality improvements are planned for 2018, so be sure to visit the ISA throughout the year.
Spotlighting Interoperability Proving Ground Programs
The Interoperability Proving Ground (IPG) is an open, community platform where you can share, learn, and be inspired by interoperability projects occurring in the United States (and around the world).
- EMDI- ResMed Interoperability Pilot – This project seeks to integrate GoScripts, an electronic scripting platform, with an electronic medical record (EMR) referral source, such as a hospital or physician group EMR, to enable durable medical equipment (DME) prescriptions to be submitted to a DME supplier.
- Pharmacist eCare Plan – This project aims to develop eCare plans for pharmacists through enhanced medication management content based on the templates in the HL7 Implementation Guide for C-CDA Release 2: Consolidated CDA for Clinical Notes.
News from 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.
News from 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.
New General Member Announcements: Welcome to the Newest CommonWell Members! Stay tuned in 2018 as they continue to expand their services and membership across the continuum.
News from 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.
- A “Win” for Health Information Exchange? How the Patient-Centered Data Home Could Shift the Narrative
- NeHII Participates in National Launch of SHIEC’s Patient Centered Data Home Initiative
- Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative Launches New Initiative to Share Patient Records Nationally
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: Consumer Mediated Exchange.