The ONC recently shared updates clarifying the app registration requirements for health IT developers certified to § 170.315(g)(10). Read on to find out what must the Certified API developers do to conform to these updates.

This week, Micky Tripathy, the ASTP/ONC Acting Chief AI Officer, published a blog post addressing significant gaps in the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act and brought the focus back to FHIR APIs. This blog captures the 5 key points he made to warn and to enforce the mandates. Join the conversation.

The EHR landscape is experiencing a shift from EHR adoption driven by Meaningful Use incentives to the organic evolution of headless EHRs. This is great news, but it raises some questions about the effectiveness of the incentives and sustainability of the innovation. Read on to explore some of these questions and join us for a panel discussion for more in-depth analysis.

Consumer-mediated exchange allows patients to directly share their health data with providers, payers, and researchers, enhancing data accessibility and addressing interoperability issues. This blog examines the mechanics, challenges, and solutions for implementing consumer-mediated exchange of health information.

ONC’s Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability (HTI-1) final rule was enacted on March 11, 2024, and since then has been the front and center of all news in healthcare IT.  A particular section of the HTI-1 rule, Decision Support Intervention (DSI), has been the primary focus. In this blog, we will unpack what DSI is and what it means for EHRs and AI App Developers.

With the introduction of the HL7® FHIR® standard, accessing patient health records has become easier than ever before. When FHIR is combined with the power of artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT, the results are nothing short of amazing. In this blog, we explore the possibilities of interpreting patient FHIR records with the MeldRx Chat powered by ChatGPT. In the accompanying video, we showcase how patients can receive real-time assistance in understanding complex medical terminologies, test results, and treatment options. We believe that collaboration is the key to driving innovation and advancing healthcare. Join us in the movement towards a more connected and patient-centric healthcare system with ChatGPT and FHIR.

With the Cures Act deadlines around the corner, the focus has been on “how” to meet the requirements, and not “why”. Let’s not forget that each one of us will be a patient at some point in our lives. When we are the patient, we want Health IT to work for us. We need access to our health data for that and Cures Act makes it possible. This personal experience will make that evident.

The final implementation phase of the most stringent requirements of the Cures Act has already begun and everyone in Healthcare IT can feel the heat of FHIR® rising. No more delays are likely in the enforcement of the ONC and the CMS rule. If you're trying to find the quickest and shortest path to meeting the Cures Act requirements let us show you SMART® approach and how to leverage the power of FHIR.

The market for FHIR solutions is quickly heating up. While every solution may have its pros and cons, we have recently seen many announcements and promotions that we felt are misguided representations of FHIR solution's actual capabilities related to meeting regulatory requirements. In this blog, I would like to bring to light some facts, to enable you to make an informed decision.

Over the last decade, billions of American taxpayer dollars have been spent to achieve “interoperability” in healthcare. Has it worked? The answer depends on who you ask. However, everyone agrees that we have a long way to go. Is FHIR® the answer to the interoperability conundrum?

After the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule was announced, the healthcare IT marketplace has been inundated with solutions, all claiming to be able to meet or even exceed the compliance requirements. Unfortunately, there is no magic mirror available that can tell you which FHIR solution is the fairest choice for your organization. So, let’s start with some facts and follow a logical path to help you find a solution that not only meets your current needs, but aligns with your future requirements as well.

Updating the CCDAs might be the easiest way to share USCDI data and avoid the $1,000,000 penalty under information blocking regulation. However, it might not be the best way as Cures Act ultimately requires you to make the same data available through a FHIR® API. In this blog, we will drill a little deeper on how making this data available through a FHIR® API is a better long-term strategy than simply sharing an updated CCDA.

On October 29th, 2020, ONC announced an Interim Final Rule to extend compliance for some of the provisions including Information Blocking due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog, we discuss what changed in the Interim Final Rule, how it impacts providers and EHR vendors, and solutions for meeting the Information Blocking requirements.

There is a lot of confusion on what exactly the 21st Century Cures Act requires and includes. We help break down the law and demonstrate how we are helping our clients meet the requirements using Azure API for FHIR®.

Last year at HIMSS, ONC announced a proposed rule pertaining to some provisions of the 21st Century Cure’s Act, which included some new certification criteria that all EHR vendors will need to support going forward. Yesterday evening, CNBC released an article sharing that Epic’s CEO, Judy Faulkner is urging hospital executives to oppose this rule. Epic has confirmed this and that they have sent an email to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, which has been signed by other “healthcare CEOs.” This is a very disappointing action by Epic, trying to misrepresent the proposed rule. Let’s winnow the fiction from the facts to understand what is going on here.

Read how to implement a clinical registry solution based on Microsoft Azure API for FHIR that accepts data directly from patients in a very secure yet simple way. Before a patient can share data, they need to have access to the data themselves and be able to control it. Find out how we address this issue.

Read how Microsoft Azure API for FHIR can be used in conjunction with Microsoft Power BI to meet scientific, clinical, and health policy, and MIPS reporting requirements for a professional association’s clinical registry.

In a previous blog and the recent webinar, we discussed how CMS has redefined the Patient Engagement requirements under MIPS in 2019. In the proposed rule announced during HIMSS, ONC proposed a new certification criterion targeted towards those objectives that EHRs will need to support going forward. There is a lot of concern (and confusion) specially regarding the security requirements related to “enabling access for patients to their medical records”. This blog provides clarification regarding these requirements and the associated security concerns.

While Apple’s Health App is a great initiative to get healthcare consumer directly involved with FHIR®, there are some serious limitations in this approach. Read how we have used Microsoft® FHIR Server and Azure Cosmos DB in our BlueButtonPRO App to address these limitations while trying to achieve the same end goal i.e. empowering healthcare consumer with access to their healthcare data with Personal FHIR Record.

In our recent blog, we discussed how Microsoft has taken a radically different approach as compared to Amazon and Google for their FHIR® offerings. Yesterday Microsoft announced Azure API for FHIR that adds to it’s open-source project for FHIR. We gave it a try.