INTEROPERABILITY INBOX

HIMSS Analytics: Paper-Based Strategies Critical to Information Exchange
HIMSS Analytics released a new report, sponsored by ASG, on the barriers, challenges, and opportunities of health information exchange (HIE). The report examines the current state of information exchange among U.S. hospitals and explores the opportunities for improving the collection and exchange of patient data. Click on the headline to download a PDF of the 17 page-report.

Standards White Paper Receiving Positive Reviews
Check out the recently published HIMSS  white paper entitled Evaluating HIT Standards: Key Principles to Support Healthcare IT Interoperability in the United States, which has been receiving positive industry feedback. This paper provides a set of principles for providers to use in evaluating health information technology standards and steps for developing mature standards.  Click on the headline above to read more and to download a PDF copy of the white paper.

White Paper: Lack of Interoperability Hinders Mobile PHR Progress
A lack of interoperability is inhibiting progress toward the mobile connectivity of personal health records, despite an increase in demand by consumers, according to a recent white paper by Frost and Sullivan, Healthcare IT News reports. Click the headline to read the full article in iHealth Beat.

Most Ambulatory Docs Able to Exchange Prescription, Lab Data
By Kyle Murphy, PhD, EHR Intelligence
A majority of office-based physicians can view lab results and send medication data electronically, according to a study by the ONC. Additionally, one-third of ambulatory care physicians are capable of sending and/or receiving patient clinical summaries from other providers, a key component of Meaningful Use Stage 2. Click the link above to read more.

Partners Makes Big Interoperability Push
InterSystems will work with Epic to consolidate clinical and financial IT system-wide. “Partners recognizes that strategic interoperability is central to achieving the strategic goals of the Partners eCare initiative," said Paul Grabscheid, vice president of strategic planning at InterSystems. "We have enjoyed a decades-long relationship with Partners on every step of its journey to improving outcomes and managing costs, and that continues with their selection of HealthShare to achieve a holistic view of individual patients as well as patient cohorts across the Partners HealthCare network." Click the headline to read the full Healthcare IT News article.

Showcase Connection

Inside the HIMSS Innovation Center: Testing the Tools of Patient Data Exchange
By Carla M Smith, MA, CNM, FHIMSS
The HIMSS’s Innovation Center validates the interoperability of health information. We created a year-round, 24/7 facility where stakeholders can validate IT products’ ability to safely and securely exchange health information, educate all stakeholders on what they need to know about the use of IT in health and healthcare, and bring communities together to solve common problems. Click the link above to read more.

Gala Tours at HIMSS Innovation Center
By John Paganini, MBA, CPHIMS, CIIP, Senior Manager, Interoperability Initiatives, HIMSS
On October 15 the Global Center for Health Innovation hosted a welcome reception to signify the opening of the newest building on the Cleveland downtown landscape. 

On the fourth floor of the Center, HIMSS personnel were available at the HIMSS Innovation Center and offered personalized tours to hundreds of Innovations Summit participants and other health leaders in attendance at the grand opening gala. In addition, HIMSS Technology Showcase Collaborators were there in force during the reception to demo their new exhibit spaces and showcase their technology. Click on the headline to read the full article.

IHE Junction

IHE Connectathon Conference 2014, Registration to Open
With an increase in the number of medical practices, hospitals and other healthcare organizations implementing electronic health records (EHR) and with directives to meet Meaningful Use criteria, organizations are now seeking to optimize data exchange and interoperable systems. The IHE NA Connectathon Conference 2014 will provide attendees with success stories and best practice examples of agencies and organizations achieving information exchange and improving health outcomes through better coordinated patient care, while realizing the value of health IT. The Conference will be held on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Registration for the Conference: Beyond Meaningful Use and HIE: Achieving Interoperability, opens on Monday, November 18. Click on the headline to review the educational sessions for this one-day conference.

Connectathon Student Volunteer Needed for IHE Connectathon
Join the IHE USA team at the IHE North American (NA) Connectathon 2014 and help support the largest interoperable testing event in the country from January 27 - January 31, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Volunteers may engage with 500+ of the industry's top engineers. For full program details, visit IHE USA’s website. Complete our quick and easy online application. Apply by November 27!

IHE Patient Care Coordination Technical Framework Published
The IHE Patient Care Coordination Technical Committee has published the following Technical Framework Volumes as of October 4, 2013: Volume 1 (PCC TF-1): Integration Profiles and Volume 2 (PCC TF-2): Transactions and Content Modules. The committee has also published the supplements to the IHE Patient Care Coordination Technical Framework for trial implementation on October 4, 2013. Click on the link above to read more.

IHE Proposals Under Review
By Alex Lippitt, Jr., Senior Director, Interoperability and Standards | HIMSS
IHE International held its annual Face-to-Face (F2F) evaluation of proposals for three of the 12 IHE Domains outside of Chicago at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) headquarters on October  9-10. The IHE Domains participating in the proposal evaluation meeting included:

• IT Infrastructure
• Patient Care Coordination
• Quality, Research and Public Health

With proposals coming from all over the world, generally five or more proposals can be supported by each domain. The “cycle” includes evaluating a proposed profile, a complex function with actors and systems, and putting together a technical framework to guide IT development. Click on the headline above to read the full story.

HIE Highway

HIE, Standardization Critical for Healthcare Analytics: Q&A
By Jennifer Bresnick, Health IT Analytics
Lauren Fifield, Senior Policy Advisor at Practice Fusion, sat down with Health IT Analytics to discuss how HIEs can contribute to data analytics, and how they can provide value in the field to providers looking for insights into their patients’ health. You can read the interview by clicking the link above.

HIE Shows Cost Savings in Emergencies
Beyond improving the quality of emergency care, giving physicians access to data from a health information exchange saved nearly $2,000 per patient during a study unveiled by the American College of Emergency Physicians. The research tracked patient care over a 12-month period, starting February 2012, during which there were 325,740 patient encounters and 7,525 log-ons to the HIE by 231 eligible clinicians at 11 emergency departments in South Carolina, according to ACEP. The study was based on a sample of 532 patients from this population who had information available in the HIE and for whom the clinicians caring for the patients completed a survey. Click on the headline above to read the full Healthcare IT News article.

Brooklyn Health Information Exchange Enables Community-wide EHR Sharing
Brooklyn Health Information Exchange (BHIX) is a not-for-profit regional health information organization, devoted to facilitating patient-centric care with a network that includes providers who serve the diverse population of 2.5 million Brooklyn residents. Access this case study today to learn how BHIX has been focusing on electronic health record (EHR) interoperability to facilitate the exchange of patient data among health care providers. Learn about their recent project involving EHR information sharing between Brownsville Multiple Service Family Health Center and Brookdale University Hospital and its affiliates. Click the link above to learn more.

POLICY PIPELINE

Health IT Activities Resume With Reopened Government
After 16 days of inactivity at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), federal agencies reopened their doors on October 17. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continued to allow for meaningful use attestation during the shutdown, but there were questions around how long it would take attesters to receive their payments. The Health IT Policy and Standards Committees (HITPC and HITSC) both missed October meetings and Workgroup activities; meetings are tentatively scheduled to resume on Monday, October 21. Click on the headline to read the full HIMSS article on the effects of the government shutdown.

Final Medical App Guidance Issued by FDA
The FDA has issued its final guidance for mobile medical application developers, committing to limited regulation for most health and wellness apps while applying risk-based standards to diagnostic and quasi-medical device apps. Click on the headline to read the full story in Healthcare IT News.

Congresswoman foretells bill for more mHealth regulation
Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn's proposed bill would increase the FDA's authority and resources for overseeing mobile health applications. Click link above to read the full mHealth News story.

HIMSS Exchange

Call for Participation: mHIMSS Roadmap
There are multiple opportunities for mobile health thought leaders to lend their expertise to the mHIMSS Roadmap, a framework for shaping a mHealth strategy, including six sections: New Care Models, ROI/Payment, Policy, Standards & Interoperability, Privacy & Security, and Technology. mHIMSS is also looking early adopters of the mHIMSS Roadmap to blog about their experiences and sharing their useful advice centered on the Roadmap and its utility as a tool for developing a mobile health strategy. Click the link in the headline above to express your interest in participating or to receive more information.

HIMSS Volunteer Opportunities: ICD-10
With the October 2014 ICD-10 deadline just one year away, there are many opportunities for HIMSS members to share their knowledge and expertise in any of the areas listed below. If you are interested in becoming involved or contributing content on ICD-10, please contact Joanne Bartley, Manager, Business Centered Systems, via e-mail or 312-915-9251.

HIMSS Launches Provider-Payer Community
After four year of bringing providers, payers, and health IT solutions together through the HIMSS Patient-Centered Payer Roundtable to explore payer-provider-IT collaborations and solutions that improve health and value, and foster collaboration and trust, HIMSS is expanding its efforts by launching the Provider-Payer Community. Share your knowledge, ideas, and thoughts through monthly interactive webinars, two-minute drills to the community, and social media engagement. The Community holds monthly Virtual Events 3rd Thursday of most months from 4:00-5:00 p.m. (ET). Join the Community for our next meeting on November 21 for “The Revolution Revealed! Top 5 Areas Fostering Transformation.”  Sign up for the Community and be a part of the movement from volume to value through collaboration.  For more information, contact Nancy Devlin or visit the Provider-Payer Community website.

HIMSS Clinical & Business Intelligence (C&BI) Community
Clinical & Business Intelligence (C&BI) has the power to help you positively impact patient care, delivery, health outcomes, and business operation. The HIMSS C&BI Community supports activities that promote peer-to-peer networking, problem solving, solution sharing and education. Through membership, you will obtain practical knowledge and guidance to help you effectively manage and use data. The Community holds monthly Virtual Events on the 4th Thursday from 1:00-2:00 p.m. (ET). Sign up for the Community and learn how to turn data into action. For more information and to review and listen to past events, visit the C&BI Community web site.

Board of Directors and Nominating Committee Elections Underway
The annual election of the HIMSS Board of Directors and Nominating Committee will run through November 15. In October, voting instructions were sent via e-mail to HIMSS members. Please see the candidate list by clicking the link above.