To ensure continued forward movement in adoption of electronic health information exchange and increased interoperability for care coordination, DirectTrust has released a list of four recommendations for the new administration. The recommendations were submitted to the President-elect’s Transition Team at a closed-door meeting held on Tuesday, December 20.
DirectTrust is a health care industry alliance created by and for participants in the Direct exchange network used for secure, interoperable exchange of personal health information (PHI) between provider organizations, and between provider and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care.
2. The new administration should seek to “hold the gains” in both EHR adoption and interoperability. New policies should build on existing technology for interoperable exchange already integrated into EHRs under the 2014 Certification Program, such as Direct Messaging, eHealthExchange, IHE-XDR and the CCDA, while supporting development of new technologies and evolving content standards, like FHIR. The new administration should avoid “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
3. Given the current concerns about security and health care, it is critical that we use the latest secure, reliable transport mechanisms to move data, and that policy and operational efforts focus on core requirements, such as encryption, authentication and identity management.
4. Regulatory requirements that hold providers accountable for improved outcomes, such as those included in MIPS and MACRA, should be clear, targeted and evidence-based. This must be considered in the effort to reduce regulatory and documentation burden on health care providers, as specified in the newly-adopted 21st Century Cures Act section on Health IT.
“We look forward to working with the new administration and in particular, with ONC and CMS, to support interoperability and provide the industry with reliable means for secure and easy exchange of health information,” said Dr. Kibbe in a statement.
