Vaishali Patel
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Vaishali Patel's Latest Blog Posts
A Decade of Data Examined: Patient Access to Electronic Health Information
Vaishali Patel | December 11, 2023
The world is better off and getting better, compared to popular opinion and what’s broadcast on the news, says Hans Rosling and his co-authors, using simple, comprehensive measures, in Factfulness. Sometimes taking a step back and looking at the big picture (and the data) is important to take stock of actual progress and the necessary work to come. In that spirit, we’re kicking off a new blog series: “A Decade of Data Examined.” These posts will provide a comprehensive look at measures and metrics we’ve tracked for ten or more years to assess progress on important ONC mission activities and help chart a path forward on the work still to come.
Read Full Post.The Digital Health Divide for Populations that have been Marginalized
Vaishali Patel | November 13, 2023
Many hospitals have adopted systems for interoperable patient data exchange and are connected to national networks. However, ONC has consistently found that rates of interoperable exchange for smaller, rural, and independent hospitals have notably lagged behind other hospitals. For example, in both 2017 and 2021, rural hospitals were 23 percentage points less likely to engage in interoperable exchange compared to urban hospitals. In a recent study, ONC explored this digital divide to better understand the relationship between interoperable exchange and measures of hospitals that served populations that have been marginalized.
Read Full Post.Electronic Public Health Reporting among Hospitals & Physicians in the Year Prior to the Pandemic: Implications for Health Equity & Pandemic Response
Vaishali Patel | August 18, 2022
The pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed gaps in the nation’s public health infrastructure that pose challenges to effective communication between health care providers and public health agencies. According to ONC analyses of nationally representative survey data from hospitals and physicians collected in 2019, over 70% of hospitals experienced at least one major challenge with electronic public health reporting and less than 1 in 5 primary care physicians—and about a quarter of pediatric and internal medicine primary care physicians—reported electronically exchanging data with public health agencies.
Read Full Post.Shining a Light on FHIR Implementation: Progress Toward Publishing FHIR Endpoints
Vaishali Patel | February 1, 2022
Using APIs “without Special Effort”
The ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule (Cures Rule) supports patients’ and providers’ access to electronic health information (EHI) through Health Level Seven (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) application programming interfaces (APIs). FHIR is ready for prime-time and the Cures Rule requires certain developers of certified health IT to provide a certified, FHIR API to their customer base by December 31, 2022.
Read Full Post.Harnessing Electronic Health Data in the Palm of Your Hand: New Survey Data Shows Increasing Availability of Patient-Facing APIs and Early Uptake by Patients
Vaishali Patel | November 17, 2021
More and more individuals are using digital data to make informed decisions about their health. Whether it be health information collected by wearable devices or lab test results in a patient portal, individuals can now access, share, and use electronic health data to manage their health needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of individuals taking a proactive approach to accessing to their electronic health information so that they can be better prepared in advance of an emergency.
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