[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":63,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"The Trump administration continues to circle the wagons in its defense of the federal government\u2019s efforts to enable patient access to their electronic health information. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is the third Department of Health and Human Services official in as many days to take healthcare stakeholders to task for their criticism of a proposed rule by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to improve access to patient medical records.\u201cA truly interoperable healthcare system has the potential to deliver better access, safety and quality that patients need while unleashing data,\u201d said Verma on Wednesday at the CMS Healthcare Innovation Industry Day in Washington. \u201cWe have made it clear to providers that they don\u2019t own a patient\u2019s data and they must give it to their patients.\u201d

In March, ONC issued a proposed rule requiring healthcare providers to offer patients\u2019 access to their electronic health information through secure, standards-based application programming interfaces.Nonetheless, while supporting ONC\u2019s overall goal of patient access to data, stakeholders such as the American Medical Association and electronic health record vendor Epic Systems have made the case that\u2014absent appropriate privacy protections\u2014finalizing ONC\u2019s proposed rule, as written, would put patient information at risk.Epic issued a statement on Monday about the pending ONC rule, which the company contends inadvertently creates \u201cserious risks\u201d to privacy by requiring providers to send patient data to API-enabled apps requested by patients.\u201cThere are no transparency requirements to make it very clear to the patient what data the app is taking and what the app will do with that data,\u201d according to Epic, which was encouraging the heads of some of the largest U.S. hospital organizations to oppose the ONC rule.However, Verma on Wednesday emphasized that patient privacy is a priority for the Trump administration and that \u201cthe disingenuous efforts by certain private actors to use privacy\u2014as vile as it is\u2014as a pretext for holding patient data hostage is an embarrassment to the industry.\u201dShe added that \u201caccess to one\u2019s data can be a matter of life and death and this Administration will not waiver in ensuring that patients enjoy full ownership of their data.\u201d\u201cThe sort of consumer-oriented revolution that will make the healthcare system more affordable and accessible is undermined by those bad actors throughout the system that continue to guard the status quo because it\u2019s in the interests of their short term profits,\u201d concluded Verma, who said this \u201cself-serving mentality\u201d must immediately end. \u201cThe shortsightedness of such efforts is deeply troubling considering the broad frustration of the American people with the status quo.\u201dLikewise, HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Monday also lashed out at stakeholders that are critical of ONC\u2019s proposed rule. Speaking at the ONC annual meeting, Azar charged that EHR systems today are \u201cbalkanized\u201d and \u201csegmented\u201d creating data silos that prevent patients from accessing their health information.Also See<\/b>: Azar defends patient access to EHR data under ONC rule, but pushback resumes<\/a>\u201cUnfortunately, some industry stakeholders are defending the balkanized, outdated status quo,\u201d Azar said, adding that some vendors holding patient data have \u201cprevented new market entrants from participating in the space.\u201dOn Tuesday at the ONC meeting, National Coordinator for HIT Don Rucker echoed Azar\u2019s remarks by pointing out that \u201cthere are all kinds of economic interests of folks who have spent their lives and careers in this space.\u201d","saveContent":"The Trump administration continues to circle the wagons in its defense of the federal government\u2019s efforts to enable patient access to their electronic health information. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is the third Department of Health and Human Services official in as many days to take healthcare stakeholders to task for their criticism of a proposed rule by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to improve access to patient medical records.\u201cA truly interoperable healthcare system has the potential to deliver better access, safety and quality that patients need while unleashing data,\u201d said Verma on Wednesday at the CMS Healthcare Innovation Industry Day in Washington. \u201cWe have made it clear to providers that they don\u2019t own a patient\u2019s data and they must give it to their patients.\u201dIn March, ONC issued a proposed rule requiring healthcare providers to offer patients\u2019 access to their electronic health information through secure, standards-based application programming interfaces.Nonetheless, while supporting ONC\u2019s overall goal of patient access to data, stakeholders such as the American Medical Association and electronic health record vendor Epic Systems have made the case that\u2014absent appropriate privacy protections\u2014finalizing ONC\u2019s proposed rule, as written, would put patient information at risk.Epic issued a statement on Monday about the pending ONC rule, which the company contends inadvertently creates \u201cserious risks\u201d to privacy by requiring providers to send patient data to API-enabled apps requested by patients.\u201cThere are no transparency requirements to make it very clear to the patient what data the app is taking and what the app will do with that data,\u201d according to Epic, which was encouraging the heads of some of the largest U.S. hospital organizations to oppose the ONC rule.However, Verma on Wednesday emphasized that patient privacy is a priority for the Trump administration and that \u201cthe disingenuous efforts by certain private actors to use privacy\u2014as vile as it is\u2014as a pretext for holding patient data hostage is an embarrassment to the industry.\u201dShe added that \u201caccess to one\u2019s data can be a matter of life and death and this Administration will not waiver in ensuring that patients enjoy full ownership of their data.\u201d\u201cThe sort of consumer-oriented revolution that will make the healthcare system more affordable and accessible is undermined by those bad actors throughout the system that continue to guard the status quo because it\u2019s in the interests of their short term profits,\u201d concluded Verma, who said this \u201cself-serving mentality\u201d must immediately end. \u201cThe shortsightedness of such efforts is deeply troubling considering the broad frustration of the American people with the status quo.\u201dLikewise, HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Monday also lashed out at stakeholders that are critical of ONC\u2019s proposed rule. Speaking at the ONC annual meeting, Azar charged that EHR systems today are \u201cbalkanized\u201d and \u201csegmented\u201d creating data silos that prevent patients from accessing their health information.Also See<\/b>: Azar defends patient access to EHR data under ONC rule, but pushback resumes<\/a>\u201cUnfortunately, some industry stakeholders are defending the balkanized, outdated status quo,\u201d Azar said, adding that some vendors holding patient data have \u201cprevented new market entrants from participating in the space.\u201dOn Tuesday at the ONC meeting, National Coordinator for HIT Don Rucker echoed Azar\u2019s remarks by pointing out that \u201cthere are all kinds of economic interests of folks who have spent their lives and careers in this space.\u201d","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

Verma: Private actors are using privacy as pretext to hold patient data hostage

More for you