2022 will be a 'transformative year' for health IT, says ONC head

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Micky Tripathi says that 2022 will bring the policy and technical infrastructure necessary for nationwide information sharing – making it a transformative year. Tripathi also cited forthcoming API standardization, which he says will make information sharing easier with certified electronic health record systems. "The key goals for TEFCA are to: accelerate the tremendous progress already made by the market and establish a universal floor of nationwide interoperability based on uniform exchange contracts, open-industry technical standards, and transparent rules of the road; create the policy and technical infrastructure for organizations to securely exchange information to support patient care and generate health care value; and enable individuals to efficiently access their health care information from wherever it is," said Tripathi. "The information sharing requirements of the Cures Act bring consistency across the industry by directing providers, vendors to health information networks to begin to make information sharing their default posture, which is a paradigm shift from HIPAA, which permits but doesn't obligate such sharing of information," he said.