Health information exchange organizations are adopting health data standards at varying rates, with a recent data brief from the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and ONC (ASTP/ONC) revealing widespread use of HL7 v2 and CDA standards but slower adoption of FHIR APIs. In a 2023 national survey of HIEs, more than 90% of HIEs reported that they routinely or sometimes received and sent (or made available) CDAs. Additionally, most HIEs routinely received and sent (or made available) HL7 v2 messages. The survey also found that 96% of HIEs reported receiving HL7 v2 ADT messages. The high percentage of HIEs receiving HL7 v2 ADT messages could be partly explained by the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access final rule's requirement for the electronic exchange of patient ADT data for psychiatric hospitals, critical access hospitals and Medicare Conditions of Participation.

The Department of Health and Human Services has unveiled the final copy of the 2024–2030 Federal Health IT Strategy. Through the strategy released on Sept. 30, HHS aims to improve care procedures for patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, public health officials and others throughout the healthcare community using IT. The Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy worked alongside more than 25 federal agencies to produce the strategic roadmap. They then turned to members of industry for comments on the March-published draft.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to release a new enterprise-wide AI strategy in January, HHS Acting Chief AI Officer (CAIO) Micky Tripathi said last week. During the NVIDIA AI Summit in Washington on Oct. 8, Tripathi detailed the forthcoming AI strategic plan, noting that it “spans the entire breadth of what the department covers.” Tripathi – who also serves as the department’s assistant secretary for technology policy and national coordinator for health IT – said that HHS’ work spans across the “value chain of life sciences and healthcare.” “Starting with research and discovery of medical products – that’s drugs, biologics, diagnostics, devices, all the preclinical work that NIH primarily does there. Then you move to approvals from measuring safety and effectiveness of those medical products,” Tripathi explained. “Then you go to healthcare delivery. Everything involved with healthcare delivery in the Department of Human Services covers both the largest health insurers in the world, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as significant activities related to how health delivery happens.”

Behavior remains a significant challenge in ensuring seamless health data exchange, according to a blog post authored by Micky Tripathi, assistant secretary for technology policy, national coordinator for health information technology and acting chief artificial intelligence officer at HHS. The 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) of 2016 required certified EHRs to support the access, exchange and use of data without special effort through APIs. Since January 1, 2023, all certified EHR users are required to have standardized FHIR APIs for patient and population services to exchange data with patients and authorized business partners. According to Tripathi, the majority of certified developers have published their certified APIs and associated documentation on the publicly accessible Certified Health IT Product List.

Health information technology standards are used in the health care industry to facilitate the capture and exchange of information.1 Health information exchange organizations (HIOs) are state and regional networks that enable electronic exchange of health information across their participants, which may include health care providers, public health agencies, payers, and other health care entities.