The ONC held its 3rd Annual Interoperability Forum recently where global Health IT leaders came together to discuss the necessary steps to forging a global thought process regarding data sharing and access. Per an article published by the ONC, the meeting yielded three key take-aways; all of which echo our mission. The most basic of…
Proving that Interoperability is more than just a pipe dream for the healthcare industry, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced its partnership with Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, USA (IHE) to advance interoperability. According to an article in Healthcare IT news, the union aims to ‘innovate the technical standards needed for…
According to recent reports over 50% of Americans have no access to their personal health information online; this despite recent initiatives to make this data available to all patients. To improve these statistics and ensure that consumers are able to rightfully access their health information, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Civil Rights Department recently…
After suffering tremendous backlash regarding the timeline for implementing Meaningful Use Stage 3 standards, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released its final ruling on Tuesday, October 6th. The overarching goal of the revised ruling was to increase flexibility for providers while simplifying…
At a Senate Committee hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday, there was a lot of talk about “information blocking” among EHR vendors and how true interoperability can’t be achieved until all EHRs can easily send patient data outside of their own proprietary systems. Get Real Health has confronted this problem for years. The concerns we heard…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid is giving the healthcare industry the chance to comment on a proposed change to MU patient engagement requirements that have sent shockwaves through the industry. If accepted, instead of requiring providers to get 5 percent of their patients to view, download and transmit their health data, the proposed rule change…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) recently released the Stage 3 notice of proposed rulemaking for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Incentive Programs and 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria. The Stage…
ONC Decides Against Adopting 2015 ‘Voluntary’ EHR Certification Criteria The ONC decided against adopting the 2015 voluntary edition of the EHR certification criteria. Instead they folded some of the proposed voluntary criteria into the new, more flexible final rule for the 2014 edition certification, which is now being called “2014 Edition Release 2.” The ONC…
The 9th annual National Health IT Week is upon us. That’s right, between September 11th to the 19th an estimated 400 Health IT professionals will gather to reflect, discuss, and spread awareness about the necessity of advancing health through information technology at numerous panels, workshops and summits. Get Real Health is proud to be a…
Patients Have Difficulty Understanding Health Records According to Zikmund-Fisher, “Improving how we show people their health data may be a simple but powerful way to improve health outcomes.” Having the ability to check your health records electronically sounds like a beneficial tool for someone to possess, but a recent discovery by a team from the…
Obstacles Facing Interoperability Discussed at ONC Hearing This past Friday at the ONC’s Health IT Policy Committee’s Interoperability and Health Information Exchange Workgroup Governance Subgroup hearing, provider and vendor panelists shared their thoughts on the challenges facing healthcare interoperability as well as potential solutions for these obstacles. Echoing the AHA’s position, most participants testified that…
The first director of the Office of Consumer eHealth at the ONC, Lygeia Ricciardi, has announced her resignation. She will step down from her post on July 25. Ricciardi’s post focused on patient engagement during her three-and-a-half-year tenure. “There is no greater cheerleader in this country for patients using health IT than Lygeia Ricciardi. All of…
