Client News Coverage

As actors work to comply with the Cures Act Final Rule, it’s become clear that greater consensus is needed regarding the interpretation of the definition of electronic health information (EHI) and the designated record set (DRS). As many readers know, the Cures Act Final Rule includes interoperability requirements related to information blocking and health IT certification. Both rely on the definition of EHI, which is grounded in the definition of the DRS, as defined by HIPAA.

I’m proud my organization AHIMA has been able to collaborate with the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) on a taskforce to examine the relationship between specific aspects of the Cures Act Final Rule and the definitions of DRS and EHI.

The COVID-19 Pandemic taught all of us many things. One of the sectors that the pandemic put a spotlight on was the healthcare industry. The pandemic showed the resilience of the US healthcare system, but it also pointed out some important areas in need of improvement.

In our interview series called “In Light Of The Pandemic, Here Are The 5 Things We Need To Do To Improve The US Healthcare System”, we are interviewing doctors, hospital administrators, nursing home administrators, and healthcare leaders who can share lessons they learned from the pandemic about how we need to improve the US Healthcare System.

As a part of this series, I had the pleasure to interview Brad Bostic, CEO of hc1.

Brad founded hc1 to bring the benefits of precision health to all patients after witnessing his mother lose her battle with cancer while being treated like a number. He created hc1 with a bold vision to bring the power of precise diagnostic and treatment insights into the care delivery process, believing that transforming lab data into personalized healthcare insights would empower healthcare organizations to ensure patients get optimal diagnostic lab tests and personalized prescriptions for the best possible outcomes. Today, hc1 is the bioinformatics leader in precision testing and prescribing and its hc1 Precision Health Cloud™ is live across more than 20,000 lab and health system locations.

Due to critical shortages of healthcare personnel and ICU beds, several states have declared “crisis standards of care,” including Alaska. As if they don’t need one more thing to worry about, a new virus has been detected in the state. Dubbed “Alaskapox” by the media, the virus was found in two additional patients who sought treatment at a Fairbanks urgent care clinic. The symptoms include skin sores, fever, joint pains, and swollen lymph nodes. Both patients recovered within a few weeks, but it’s worrisome as these cases are similar to an initial case in 2015 and another one five years later. The virus has been identified as one from the same family as smallpox and cowpox. Epidemiologic investigation linked the virus to outdoor cats who may have picked it up from cows or other mammals, including voles. Just goes to show that public health was important before COVID-19 and will continue to be important in the future. Let’s hope governmental entities show up with their pocketbooks to fund the kinds of investigations needed to tackle emerging illnesses.

A new report from AHIMA, AMIA, and EHRA asks for consensus on the definitions of “electronic health information” and “designated record set” to better help organizations operationalize the requirements found in the 21st Century Cures Act. The organizations had formed a task force last year in preparation for key compliance deadlines. The task force will be asking stakeholders for feedback on the report and will continue to refine their work as the 2022 deadlines for compliance to the information blocking portions of the Act approach. The health information export portion of the Act kicks in at the end of 2023.

ONC must standardize the definition of electronic health information (EHI) for the successful operationalization of the 21st Century Cures Act final rule’s interoperability goals, according to a report from three major health IT organizations.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and the HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) formed a task force to create the Defining EHI and the Designated Record Set in an Electronic World report.

EHR Intelligence»

Three major healthcare informatics organizations this week published a new study designed to help guide the conversation around how electronic health information should be managed and put to use by healthcare providers and technology developers.

WHY IT MATTERS
The American Health Information Management Association, the American Medical Informatics Association and the HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association on Monday put out a report, Defining EHI and the Designated Record Set in an Electronic World (PDF), which focuses on  issues around operationalization of the definitions of electronic health information and designated record set.

The definition of "electronic health information" will need to be standardized to ensure compliance with HHS' Cures Act Final Rule, according to a recent report by The American Health Information Management Association, the American Medical Informatics Association and the Electronic Health Record Association.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) (@AHIMAResources), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) (@AMIAinformatics), and the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) (@EHRAssociation) announced the release of a preliminary report that examines key issues related to the operationalization of the definitions of electronic health information(EHI) and designated record set (DRS).

How these definitions will be operationalized by clinicians and developers are critical to successful compliance with the Cures Act Final Rule. The Cures Act Final Rule includes interoperability requirements related to information blocking and health IT certification, both of which rely on the definition of EHI, which is grounded in the definition of the designated record set as defined by HIPAA.

The uncertainty and risk created by pandemic-related disruptions in care have health plans in uncharted water when it comes to relying on claims data and utilization patterns to inform their risk models. But while these disruptions weakened the reliability of traditional risk models, they also created opportunities to deepen and enrich member data by leveraging consumer and other data related to social determinants of health (SDoH)that can deliver significant performance and accuracy benefits.

Expanding data sources and enhancing analytics capabilities allows health plans to develop the capacity for more precise, holistic member engagement while improving the most impactful health outcomes in individuals and populations. Doing so will help lift Star Ratings, improve care compliance, close gaps, enhance member satisfaction, reduce costs and drive profitability gains.

HIT Consultant»

At the intersection of health tech and diagnostics, hc1's CEO Brad Bostic talked about the company's origins and how it works with medical laboratories, hospitals and health plans.

The trade association for electronic health record (EHR) companies is asking the government to postpone civil monetary penalties for EHR developers and health information networks and exchanges that run afoul of new information-blocking regulations. The group contends that the industry needs to become familiar with the requirements and figure out how to comply with them.

Officials of the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) revealed the request during a press conference at the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) convention in Las Vegas this week

The healthcare industry will be discussing COVID-19 lessons learned for the foreseeable future. Yet one take-away stands out as a glaring issue that demands immediate attention: keeping critical patient and public health data locked away in disconnected databases and multiple data siloes is not only unsustainable, but potentially deadly.

From the point when COVID-19 arrived in the U.S., public health officials lacked critical information and proactive real-time insights into the ebb and flow of the virus — denying them the ability to mobilize highly effective localized responses.

Typical attempts at defining, quantifying, and measuring social determinants of health (SDoH) are limited to geographic or population averages, which often mask individuals’ discrete and unique experiences. They can, therefore, lead organizations to implement costly and inefficient programs instead of addressing individuals’ actual barriers that represent the greatest potential for improving health outcomes and return on investment.

Recognizing this, the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) sought to gain a better understanding of the unique fingerprint of risk within its members’ patient populations—knowledge that would lead to more effective strategies for its members to address emergency department (ED) super-utilization and readmission rates with interventions that would produce the greatest return on investment.

For healthcare organizations to succeed in an era where they are expected to deliver optimal patient results at the lowest cost, they need to abandon traditional low-value care models, which are characterized by patient care that does not lead to better outcomes. This inefficient practice can be detrimental to patients and costs the healthcare industry more than $340 billion per year.

Understanding how this process occurs — and how to eliminate it — is the first step toward implementing a high-value care strategy that works proactively toward lowering costs and improving results. And the best place to start is the lab, where blood and test utilization are responsible for most of the waste and inefficiencies that reside across the healthcare industry.

Minority communities are incredibly diverse, particularly when looking at population mix and rural vs. urban areas. From different household makeups and risk factors to varying engagement preferences, that diversity also impacts health outcomes—a reality laid bare by COVID-19.

An analysis by Carrot Health found that rural communities bear the highest burden of COVID-19, while Black and Hispanic populations are the most adversely impacted by the virus.

The pace of scientific advancement moves faster than ever, and today’s providers, by and large, are open to embracing new best practices and better approaches to medicine. When it comes to optimizing the bottom line, though, many physicians are hesitant to give up traditional manual approaches to revenue cycle management and embrace forward-thinking, data-driven revenue integrity models.

Yet, the stakes are higher than ever for taking a strategic approach to financial health. Today’s practices are facing some of the tightest operational margins in modern history, amid challenges brought on by COVID-19, a continuous decline in reimbursements, and the shift from traditional fee-for-service models to value-based care.