Interoperability continues to improve among U.S. hospitals, but there’s still a ways to go, according to new government data. More than six in 10 hospitals electronically shared health information and integrated it into their electronic health records in 2021, up 51% since 2017, the Office of the National Coordinator released in a Thursday data brief. The availability and usage of electronic data received from outside sources at the point of care has also increased over the last four years, reaching 62% and 71% respectively in 2021.

ONC released a new data brief describing the state of interoperability among hospitals using the most recently available data from 2021. Hospitals’ rates of interoperability have steadily increased over the last 7 years and in 2021 over 60% of hospitals engaged in four domains of interoperability.

In January 2021, Micky Tripathi assumed the job of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There, he leads the formulation of the federal health IT strategy and coordinates federal health IT policies, standards, programs, and investments. In this podcast with the AHA’s Nancy Foster, Tripathi talks about what his office is doing to help care providers achieve the health information sharing system they want and deserve.

As the team lead for budget formulation, Athena Curtiss works in the office of the chief operating officer, financial and human capital division, which is responsible for the formulation and execution of ONC’s budget.

Recent policy efforts have effectively increased ePrescribing for controlled substances (EPCS). However, continued work to support EHR integration of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) is needed, according to an ONC data brief. “In the midst of a growing drug overdose crisis, clinicians’ use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and EPCS technology is critical to improving opioid prescribing practices, informing treatment decisions, and supporting safe and effective patient care,” ONC officials noted in a HealthITBuzz blog post. The data revealed that 62 percent of physician prescribers reported using EPCS “often” in 2021 compared to 37 percent of prescribers in 2019.