With HHS aiming to finalize its new interoperability rules by the end of the month, there’s no shortage of controversy – especially when it comes to the ever-growing rift between industry providers.

It all started before the 2020 ONC Annual Conference where Epic CEO emailed a wide-range of hospital leaders, asking them to speak out against the proposed regulation that makes it easier for patients to access their health information.

In response, HHS Secretary Alex Aza stated that “scare tactics are not going to stop the reforms we need,” at the ONC Annual Conference. He also said that “defending the current balkanized state and status quo is a highly unpopular position to take.”

As you can imagine, those that support the new interoperability rule, came out in favor of it. On January 27th, Apple, Cerner and Microsoft voiced their strong support for efforts to give patients access to their health data.

Both sides have made their case, but it’s not over yet.

Last week, Epic came out with a letter signed by 60 health systems opposing the new rule. Around the same time last week, Cerner Chairman and CEO Brent Shafer voiced his company’s support of the rule in an earnings call. Specifically, he said that, “we look forward to continuing our work with the ONC, clients, and other key stakeholders to ensure the secure flow of information across disparate systems and health care entities.”

We will surely see further communications and lobbying efforts from both sides in the coming weeks. The clock is ticking – the new rules will be published on March 5th – with a 60-day comment period open to responses from the public until May 3.

Be sure to catch up on our health data exchange-related content below.

• DirectTrust Facilitates 811 Million Data Exchange Transactions in 2019

• 2020 ONC Annual Meeting News: The Industry Rift Over Interoperability Rules and Patient Identifier Gains Traction

• ONC Announces Strategic Plan and Interoperability Standards Updates in Advance of Annual Meeting

• 2020 ONC Annual Meeting to Highlight Bringing the EHR to the Patient

• QHN and CORHIO Partner to Enhance Health Data Exchange Capabilities in Colorado

• New Program in Michigan to Serve as HIE for Advancing Population Health

• PODCAST: Four Innovative Use Cases for Enhancing Value for HIEs

• Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services and Great Lakes Health Connect Merge to Enhance Health Data Sharing

• Preparing for the Final ONC, CMS Interoperability Rules

• DirectTrust Triples Number of Health Data Transactions in Q3

• The Sequoia Project Advances Health Data Interoperability Mission as TEFCA Coordinator

• TEFCA Comments Point to Industry Concerns About Interoperability

• CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Rule Positive for HIEs

• Roundup of Industry Feedback on the ONC Interoperability Rule

• Information Blocking and Health Data Exchange Challenges Addressed on Capitol Hill

• What’s Next After the Second Iteration of TEFCA?

• Major EHR Vendors Reveal Their Interoperability Efforts

• Seventy-Five Percent of Hospitals Beyond Basic Level of Interoperability

• The New Definition of Healthcare Interoperability

• PODCAST: Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project, Discusses New Information Blocking Working Group

• Healthcare Interoperability at a Turning Point?

• The Sequoia Project’s New Working Group Focuses on Information Blocking

• Tackling Health Data Interoperability in 2019

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