A proposed regulation that would require health care organizations that contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to comply with standards for data exchange adopted by HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is the latter’s latest step toward fostering greater interoperability in the use and exchange of health care data.
As ONC writes,
By aligning on standards that enable interoperability, HHS is ensuring that federal investments do not contribute to the proliferation of proprietary modes of exchange and data silos that inhibit access, exchange, and use of data. Promoting interoperability through HHS investments can lead to more connected care for patients, as well as more seamless data exchange across other facets of the health care landscape, such as public health and research activities.
ONC also notes that
Continued implementation of the HHS Health IT Alignment Policy is a critical pathway to achieving the federal health IT vision of a health system that uses information to engage individuals, lower costs, deliver high-quality care, and improve individual and population health.
Learn more about the latest step ONC has taken to foster greater health IT interoperability from this entry on the ONC blog; this HHS announcement; and from this formal Federal Register notice.