American Hospital Association opposes HHS interoperability rule: 6 things to know

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has expressed its opposition to parts of a new HHS interoperability rule aiming to facilitate better healthcare data exchange.

The proposed Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability rule to "advance interoperability, improve transparency, and support the access, exchange, and use of electronic health information" was published on 5 August.

In a letter on 4 October, AHA said it supports parts of the rule: aligning CMS application programming interface requirements and recommendations; continuing to develop U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) standards; committing to protect patient data; improving public health data interoperability; rolling out the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA); and revising information blocking request-response criteria.

However, they are concerned that providers would still be held to a higher accountability standard for data sharing, USCDI version deadlines are too aggressive, new encryption requirements are burdensome, and TEFCA's current governance structure may be inadequate."

While the AHA supports prior authorisation application programming interface certifications, the group said payers, like providers, should also have mandatory, rather than voluntary, standards to "ensure that protecting the privacy of patient data is prioritized."

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Source: Becker's Health IT, 7 October 2024