EHR Information Blocking Warning from the ONC
Recently the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) published a blog noting that they are “becoming increasingly concerned about these practices, which devalue taxpayer investments in health IT and are fundamentally incompatible with efforts to transform the nation’s health system.”
Those words were from National Coordinator Keren DeSalvo, MD, and Jodi G. Daniel, ONC’s director of the Office of Policy Planning. They effectively call out “persons or entities (who) knowingly and unreasonably interfere with the exchange or use of electronic health information.” The problem is going to get worse with some highly valuable companies now getting (in our opinion) material revenue for this exchange of information.
They commented further stating: Today we delivered a new Report to Congress on Health Information Blocking that examines allegations that some health care providers and health IT developers are engaging in “information blocking”—a practice that frustrates this national information sharing goal.
Health information blocking occurs when persons or entities knowingly and unreasonably interfere with the exchange or use of electronic health information. Our report examines the known extent of information blocking, provides criteria for identifying and distinguishing it from other barriers to interoperability, and describes steps the federal government and the private sector can take to deter this conduct.
This report is important and comes at a crucial time in the evolution of our nation’s health IT infrastructure. We recently released the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020 and the Draft Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap. These documents describe challenges to achieving an interoperable learning health system and chart a course towards unlocking electronic health information so that it flows where and when it matters most for individual consumers, health care providers, and the public health community.
While most people support these goals, some individual participants in the health care and health IT industries have strong incentives to exercise control over electronic health information in ways that unreasonably interfere with its exchange and use, including for patient care.
Over the last year, ONC has received many complaints of information blocking. We are becoming increasingly concerned about these practices, which devalue taxpayer investments in health IT and are fundamentally incompatible with efforts to transform the nation’s health system.
The full extent of the information blocking problem is difficult to assess, primarily because health IT developers impose contractual restrictions that prohibit customers from reporting or even discussing costs, restrictions, and other relevant details. Still, from the evidence available, it is readily apparent that some providers and developers are engaging in information blocking. And for reasons discussed in our report, this behavior may become more prevalent as technology and the need to exchange electronic health information continue to evolve and mature.
There are several actions ONC and other federal agencies can take to address certain aspects of the information blocking problem. These actions are outlined in our report and include:
• Proposing new certification requirements that strengthen surveillance of certified health IT capabilities “in the field.”
• Proposing new transparency obligations for certified health IT developers that require disclosure of restrictions, limitations, and additional types of costs associated with certified health IT capabilities.
• Specifying a nationwide governance framework for health information exchange that establishes clear principles about business, technical, and organizational practices related to interoperability and information sharing.
• Working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to coordinate health care payment incentives and leverage other market drivers to reward interoperability and exchange and discourage information blocking.
• Helping federal and state law enforcement agencies identify and effectively investigate information blocking in cases where such conduct may violate existing federal or state laws.
• Working in concert with the HHS Office for Civil Rights to improve stakeholder understanding of the HIPAA Privacy and Security standards related to information sharing.
– Noel J. Guillama, President
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