Why It’s Important to Stay Informed About Health IT Regulations | HealthTech Magazine

As technology’s role in both healthcare and senior care continues to evolve and expand, rules governing use can be quite complex.

At the HIMSS19 conference, much of the talk focused on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s proposed rule focusing on patient access to information and information blocking. In theory, the rule — which proposes adoption of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) standards to support the secure flow of information — would lead to consumers accessing their health information in real time via smartphones and other devices and becoming better partners in their own care, according to CMS Administrator Seema Verma.

The rule was met with praise from many industry stakeholders. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt called the rule “transformative” for consumerism in healthcare, while former National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo talked about its potential to improve public health.

The American Hospital Association, however, expressed apprehension about the rule’s inclusion of event notification as a condition of participation for Medicare and Medicaid.