June 22, 2018
Dive
Brief:
- CMS on
Thursday debuted a free public database aimed at supporting interoperable
exchange of electronic health information when and where it is needed.
- The Data
Element Library, or DEL, lets users see the specific types of
personal health data CMS requires long-term and post-acute care facilities
to collect as part of their patient assessments.
- The DEL also brings health IT
standards that support the collection of health information into a
centralized resource, making it easier for health IT vendors to build them
into EHR products intended for PAC use.
Dive
Insight:
Long
term post-acute care providers must collect a range of patient data, including
demographics, patient medical history and health evaluations. These are then
integrated into EHRs, where they are used to measure and improve care quality
and support payment by CMS. Many have been standardized to increase
interoperability between disparate systems.
The
goal is to create a seamless flow of information between facilities, such as
when a patient moves from rehabilitation hospital to skilled nursing facility
and eventually home care.
That
is far from the case now, according to providers.
CMS
Administrator Seema Verma said in a statement that
the initiative "aligns with MyHealthEData, a governmentwide effort
strengthening the interoperability of health information," and also a
paperwork reduction effort "focused on reducing administrative burden and
costs while improving care coordination, outcomes and patients’ ability to make
decisions about their own care.”
The
DEL is part of the broader MyHealthEData effort underway at CMS, the Veterans
Administration and National Institutes of Health.
During
HIMSS18, Verma announced an array of initiatives to boost
interoperability among EHRs and PHRs and give patients greater
control over their health record, including overhauling the PHR used by
Medicare beneficiaries known as Blue Button 2.0. She said CMS will serve as the
focal point to nurture open source standards-based APIs.
CMS
has received mostly praise for the MyHealthEData initiative. However, in an
article for Forbes, former Vice President Joe Biden chided the agencyfor
moving too slowly on interoperability of health records and said the EHR revamp
lacked specific actions for implementation.
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