Speak Out About Impact Health Info Blocking Has on Our Health, Finances, and Economy

I ran across the article below published in Oct. 2018 by Anil Seth on the topic of health data portability. Anil is a pioneer, and evangelist for patient access to our own data. His article is just as relevant today as it when it was published on Oct. 16, 2018.

Many of us are anxiously awaiting a decision on the proposed rule  21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program.

We as passionate believers that patients should control our own data and be able to use it to help save our lives, the lives of our loved ones and the lives of the patient in our care must continue to speak out about the impact that information blocking has on our health, our finances, and on our economy.

Excerpts from Anil’s article:

There’s a lot of talk in the news right now about health data and who controls it.

It’s time healthcare caught up to other industries

It started this past Spring, when CMS Administrator Seema Verma made headlines, stating: “It’s time healthcare caught up to other industries,” and that patients “should have all their information in one place,” rather than scattered like a breadcrumb trail throughout the various hospitals we’ve visited over the course of our lives, trapped in data silos beyond our control. Apple jumped into the foray as well, introducing novel tech to help patients directly monitor and track their health. Like many companies, Apple believes direct patient engagement will improve outcomes down the road, resulting in a new health economy where patients rely on various apps and devices to monitor and manage much of their own care.

Portability solves interoperability

Make the data available to patients and it becomes instantly portable. With the patient in control of their personal health information (PHI), the often proprietary concerns that bottle up data sharing disappear. The patient, who can rightfully request every bit of his or her health data, can walk it out the front door and share it with whomever they want.

Read the full article here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/health-data-portability-solves-interoperability-anil-sethi/