INDUSTRY WATCH Interoperability
HIE Leaders: Many EHR Vendors Still Engage in Information Blocking
Forthcoming regulations from federal policymak- ers will penalize stakeholders who engage in in- formation blocking that prevents the flow of health data, as outlined in the 21st Century Cures Act. But a new survey of health information exchanges (HIEs) finds that the majority of respondents—55 percent—reported that electronic health record (EHR) vendors still at least sometimes engage in information blocking, while 30 percent of HIEs re- ported the same for health systems. The study, conducted between May 2019 and
February 2020 by health policy researcher Ju- lia Adler-Milstein, Ph.D., of the UCSF School of Medicine, Jordan Everson, Ph.D., a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University, and Vaishali Pa- tel, Ph.D., an analyst at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), included responses from 89 HIE organiza- tion leaders who helped measure the prevalence of information-blocking behaviors observed by these third-party entities. The information-blocking concept was origi- nally defined by Congress in the Cures Act, and the concept entails interfering with, preventing, or materially discouraging access, exchange, or use of electronic health information. The lat- est research, published in JAMIA, reveals that 55 percent of HIEs reported that EHR vendors at least sometimes engage in information blocking, while 30 percent of HIEs reported the same for health systems. The most common type of infor- mation-blocking behavior EHR vendors engaged in was setting unreasonably high prices, which 42 percent of HIEs reported routinely observing. The most common type of information-blocking behavior health systems engaged in was refus- ing to share information, which 14 percent of HIEs reported routinely observing. What’s more, greater developer competition
was associated with higher reported levels of information blocking, the research showed. In relatively competitive developer markets, 47 per- cent of HIEs reported high levels of information blocking by vendors, and 14 percent reported low levels. In contrast, 16 percent of HIEs located in relatively low competition markets reported high levels of information blocking, while 58 percent re- ported low levels of information blocking. This trend was less evident for health system competition, with the same percent of HIEs (31 per- cent) indicating high and low information blocking in markets with high health system competition. In less competitive markets, 19 percent of HIEs re- ported high levels of information blocking, and 38 percent reported low levels of information blocking.
Big Data
Fourteen Health Systems Collaborate on Large-Scale Data Platform
Fourteen large healthcare organizations have banded together to build a large-scale data platform company called Truveta. They said the platform would provide longitudinal insights that link together underlying health conditions, treatments, and outcomes so physi- cians can learn how to best treat patients and share this knowledge broadly. The participating health systems are AdventHealth, Advocate Aurora Health, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Bon Secours Mercy Health, CommonSpirit Health, Hawaii Pacific Health, Henry Ford Health System, Memorial Hermann Health System, Northwell Health, Novant Health, Providence health system, Sentara Health- care, Tenet Health, and Trinity Health. Together, these 14 health providers care for tens of millions of patients and operate thousands of care facilities across 40 states. The health providers will govern Truveta’s pursuit of insights from this de-identified data set. The company said it would use artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver tools to physicians, bio- pharma and families with aggregate analysis of conditions, thera- pies, and prognosis.
According to its website, the vision for Truveta began as an idea within Providence health system in 2018. They knew there were valuable needles of insights buried within the haystacks of data they managed, yet they could not access them. After working on their concept, they realized the data set needed to be much larger to sta- tistically serve all patients and that building a data platform to make sense of the data would require significant technical expertise and investment. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how much the world needs to learn faster, so we can better serve our communities,” said Terry Myerson, CEO of Truveta and a former Microsoft executive, in a statement. “Our vision is to save lives with data. We want to help researchers find cures faster, empower every clinician to be an ex- pert, and help families make the most informed decisions on their care. We believe the Truveta platform can help improve health equity and advance personalized medicine. We are honored to be partner- ing with innovative and world-class health providers in this pursuit.” Truveta is advised by a board of governors to ensure expertise
is infused from a variety of perspectives for strategic stewardship. Leaders from a diverse set of health providers will provide ongoing strategic, scientific, and operational advice on areas of expertise in- cluding Ethics & Health Equity, Data Integrity, and Clinical Outcomes to help ensure Truveta operates according to its vision, the company said.
The company said that data at scale can help improve health eq-
uity, particularly when it includes diversity across ethnicity, socio- economic, and other factors. The platform will be able to help fuel understanding, leading to discovery, and better care for all commu- nities, Truveta said. “For years we have seen the opportunity for diverse health pro-
viders to come together with a shared sense of purpose and use our collective data for the common good of humanity,” said Rod Hochman, M.D., president and CEO of Providence, in a statement. “With Truveta, we created a unique model that is led by the health providers yet supported by one of the most talented technical teams to focus on health.” As it builds out its technical team, Truveta is simultaneously pur- suing the security certifications and privacy audits necessary to en- sure trust and confidence in data protection.
4
hcinnovationgroup.com | MARCH/APRIL 2021
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
