Prior to much of the nation being on restricted travel, and new quarantining measures in response to the latest COVID-19 wave over Thanksgiving, Congressional leaders sent a letter to National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) head Don Rucker, MD, requesting more information about improving patient matching.

Specifically, the letter discussed how success relies on the ability of health care providers, state public health officials, pharmacists and patients to access accurate medical data, including vaccine records.

The letter is aimed at determining the best path for the distribution of the new vaccines. Just this week, Moderna announced that it is applying to the FDA for authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine, which showed that it is 94 percent effective preventing infection, and 100 percent effective for severe cases.

While much of the vaccine news is incredibly positive, it is not fully clear how the vaccine distribution will be handled – and who will be vaccinated first. 

With cases still surging in the U.S., it is an ideal time to look back at some of our earlier COVID-19 content for near-term recommendations. Specifically, we recorded a RosettaHealth podcast interview with Doug Fridsma, former Chief Science Officer at ONC; Tim Pletcher, Executive Director of MiHIN; and Buff Colchagoff, CEO of RosettaHealth.

In this May 2020 interview, these executives discussed how the role of health IT infrastructure has never been more important. To be able to make policies, understand how to treat the virus, and coordinate care, this infrastructure is serving as the foundational guide for driving a more-effective response.

They also discussed how health IT infrastructure is playing a key role in helping to share data with front-line care workers at field hospitals and testing facilities – without needing to re-invent new processes, standards and solutions.

A vaccine on the horizon is very positive news. However, until it is effectively distributed and the number of cases decline, health IT infrastructure, patient matching and health data exchange, will help in managing the long-term pandemic in the meantime.

RosettaHealth can assist with any health information challenges you might have, book a free consultation with one of our interoperability experts.