Portrait of Kevin Eike

ONC gears up for HIMSS23

Kevin Eike | April 17, 2023

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2023 Global Health Conference & Exhibition (aka HIMSS23) is happening now at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. A group of ONC staff will join the broad array of health IT colleagues across government and industry for several jam-packed days of education, networking, and listening sessions. For those of you joining us at HIMSS23, here’s an overview of ONC-led sessions that you won’t want to miss!

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Portrait of Kathryn Marchesini , , , , ,

Increasing the Transparency and Trustworthiness of AI in Health Care

Kathryn Marchesini | April 13, 2023

This is part five of a blog series on predictive models, artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ML) in health. We encourage readers to (re)visit the four previous blog posts for important context to what follows.
Through a series of blog posts over the last year, we’ve described our understanding of the current and potential uses of predictive models and machine learning algorithms in health care, and the role that ONC can play in shaping their development and use.

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Portrait of Rachel Nelson

Information Blocking Regulations Work in Concert with HIPAA Rules and Other Privacy Laws to Support Health Information Privacy

Rachel Nelson | April 12, 2023

We often get asked about how ONC’s information blocking regulations and HHS’ Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules (HIPAA Rules) interact with one another. To help clarify, ONC just released a few new information blocking frequently asked questions (FAQs) that illustrate how the federal regulations interact. This post also reviews how the information blocking regulations interact with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and other laws that impose specific restrictions on information sharing to protect the privacy of an individual’s health information.

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Portrait of Elise Sweeney Anthony

ONC’s New Proposed Rule: The Next Step to Advancing the Care Continuum Through Technology and Interoperability

Elise Sweeney Anthony | April 11, 2023

Today, ONC released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) titled, “Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing” (we will colloquially refer to future rules using the shorthand “HTI” and we refer to this rule as HTI-1). The HTI-1 proposed rule, released about three years after the ONC Cures Act Final Rule, builds on the monumental progress that has been made to support patients and providers across the care continuum.

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Portrait of Chelsea Richwine

Physicians have Widespread Access to State PDMP Data, but Data Sharing Varies Across States

Chelsea Richwine | April 6, 2023

A recent ONC blog post showed physicians have widespread access to data from their state’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). According to a 2021 national survey of office-based physicians, more than three-quarters of physician prescribers reported checking the PDMP prior to prescribing controlled substances to a patient for the first time. Prescriber use laws and ongoing efforts to integrate electronic health record (EHR) systems with state PDMPs likely contributed to high levels of PDMP use among physicians.

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