HHS Releases RFI on Interoperability and HIE HHS, CMS and ONC have released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input on policies and programs to encourage health information exchange (HIE) through interoperable systems. Although the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs and...
ONC Setting Stage for NHIN Governance Guidance Last year, ONC announced that it would not be moving forward on establishing governance regulations for the Nationwide Health Information Network (now called the “eHealth Exchange”) as a result of the comments and feedback it received. ...
SERCH Project Recommendations for HIE and Disaster Preparedness As Helen noted in her post on Thanksgiving, Superstorm Sandy re-emphasized the need for health care organizations to have plans in place for disaster preparedness, data backup and recovery. As New York and New Jersey...
What do Thanksgiving, HIE and Disaster Recovery Have in Common? First, we want to wish all of our readers across the United States a very healthy and Happy Thanksgiving! We also ask that you remember that this holiday, the Northeast is just emerging from the most devastating natural disaster to...
Is NwHIN going from “Free” to “For Fee”? Notable news late last week included ONC Coordinator Dr. Fazad Mostashari publishing a blog post stating that ONC has decided NOT to pursue promulgating regulations to govern the NwHIN. The decision was made in part after his Officeconsidered comments...
Are We Ready for the Nationwide Health Information Network? ONC Releases RFI for Governance of NwHIN Currently, more than 500 hospitals and over 4,000 practices and clinics participate in the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). According to the Federal Health Architecture...
NeHC Releases Roadmap for Growth and Evolution of HIE, and Legal HIE Listed as a Helpful Resource! Following ONC’s release of its Program Information Notice “Privacy and Security Framework Requirements and Guidance for State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program,”...
Grantees of HIE Funds Get “PIN-ned” on Privacy, Security and Patient Consent On March 22, 2012 HHS/ONC released a new Program Information Notice (PIN) called the “Privacy and Security Framework Requirements and Guidance for State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program” (P&S...
When DHHS published its Proposed ACO Rule in April 2011 and then the Final ACO Rule in November 2011 (I’ll refer to them as the “ACO Rules”), discussions focused predominately on issues such as who is “qualified” to participate, what the required governance structure should be, what methodology will be used to assign Medicare beneficiaries, and what the payment models will be. However, as I digested the ACO Rules, my reading deliberately slowed down as I zeroed in on the not unremarkable language and comments CMS included with regard to sharing individually identifiable health information in the ACO context.
OIG Releases New Fraud and Abuse Advisory Opinion Involving EHR Data Exchange On December 7, 2011, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an Advisory Opinion regarding a proposed coordination service to facilitate the electronic exchange of data for patient referral...
California HIE Demonstration Projects to Move Ahead with Opt-In Framework This past Wednesday, the California Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII) released a comprehensive whitepaper examining patient consent and other HIE framework efforts for entities participating in the...
Federal Government Releases Updated DURSA for NHIN Participants An Amended and Restated DURSA dated May 3, 2011 was released November 30, 2011. The DURSA is an acronym for the “Data Use and Reciprocal Support Agreement.” It is a comprehensive agreement to govern the exchange of health...
This article discusses generally certain legal and other challenges that networked HIE presents, as well as the effort of one HIE initiative that is looking to implement a technical solution to “segment” sensitive data and place it behind additional technological safeguards.
Helen to Speak on Solving Privacy Dilemmas with Health Information Exchange at national Health Care Info Privacy Forum To Register, click here.
Uncertainty in Federal Budget Prompts Kansas to Return .5M Early Innovator Grant On Tuesday, August 9th, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback announced that Kansas would be returning $31.5M in federal grant money awarded to it from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). There is...