Industry Collaboration to Advance Safe, Equitable and Patient-Empowered Data Exchange

The ability to granularly segment sensitive data to protect individual privacy while advancing interoperability in an equitable manner has one of the most complex health IT challenges to date. In the absence of scalable technological solutions, policy drivers, and consensus-driven implementation guidance to address real world issues of how to balance patient safety with privacy considerations, previous DS4P pilots have been limited and adoption of consent management tools has lagged. As a result, the growing interoperable ecosystem with all of its advancement in care coordination and quality has also brought with it inadvertent disparities; patients with sensitive data are forced to choose to share their information in an "all or none" manner (or this may be done for them algorithmically), whereas those without such conditions are afforded all of the benefits of interoperability. Shift, the independent healthcare task force for interoperability, governed by EHRA, IHE USA, the AMA, AAP, Drummond Group and ONC (ex-officio), and including >200 representatives from across the industry, is working collaboratively on new solutions, including standards development work, addressing controversial implementation challenges, and future policy implications. Come hear what we have done and where we are going, and lend your voice to this important work.