Interoperability

By replacing two Cerner systems, the North Carolina health system aims for a broader view, helping its physicians, nurses and IT staff work more collaboratively to serve patients with what it described as a comprehensive health record.

The next phase of meaningful use is to create an ecosystem of APIs and apps, end data blocking and give patients choices about what tools they use to access their medical information.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services effort to reduce regulatory burdens are being warmly received but the industry appears less excited about price transparency and patient access to EHR data stipulations.

The House Appropriations Committee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs voted to fund the VA’s planned EHR modernization project with $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2019 -- and laid down clear direction that VA must adopt the same EHR as the Department of Defense without actually naming Cerner.  The legislation, in fact, foretells that VA will sign the currently paused modernization contract with Cerner. EHR funding will drive implementation that “is identical to one being developed for the Department of Defense,” according to the funding bill. “These two identical systems will ensure our veterans get proper care, with timely and accurate medical data transferred between the VA, DoD and the private sector.”  While the funding is no doubt welcome to the VA, it does come amidst a serious time of change.   VA has seen a number of leadership moves in the last month, with the firing of VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, and Acting CIO Scott Blackburn stepping down last week. DoD official Robert Wilkie was named acting secretary in the interim. President Donald Trump nominated White House Physician Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, MD, to replace Shulkin. But his confirmation, scheduled for Wednesday, has been delayed over allegations that include work misconduct. Prior to being ousted, Shulkin had intended to sign with Cerner in the fall, but put the contract on hold due to interoperability concerns. EHR modernization is only one piece of the VA funding. The agency will receive a total of $194.5 billion in both discretionary and mandatory funding, $9 billion more than fiscal year 2018, much of which is allocated to increasing care access to services for veterans. “Providing critical resources for the men and women of our Armed Services and their families is a top priority,” Committee Chairman Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-New Jersey, said in a statement. “We owe it to those who serve and fight for our freedom every day to ensure they have the necessary tools and support to do their jobs.” The $1.2 billion in EHR funding will be available to the agency through 2021, provided the VA gives the committee provides “quarterly reports detailing obligations, expenditures and deployment implementation by facility.”  Twitter: @JessieFDavis Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

The Defense Health Agency is considering new technology to help it manage the increase of clinical data from its ongoing EHR modernization.

Administrator Seema Verma said changes to the program eliminate 25 measures and ultimately save hospitals over 2 million hours of work.

Despite their apparent promise to advance interoperability of clinical and claims data, exactly when the Blue Button 2.0 and MyHealthEData initiatives that CMS unveiled at HIMSS18 will be fully implemented remains unclear.

The latest federal move in the fight to combat opioid abuse will have states sharing PDMP data with the DEA.

The initiative, known as the Digital Health Ecosystem Wales network, will initially run for a period of two years.

The Choice Program was designed to shorten wait times and ease travel burdens for veterans. But Congress failed to pass the reform package last month.