Addressing Information Blocking Challenges Head-on
January 29, 2021 - The Sequoia Project’s Interoperability Matters Information Blocking Workgroup (IBWG) has invited Jennifer Blumenthal, CEO and co-founder of OneRecord, to join their newly launched Healthcare Providers Subgroup.
The Sequoia Project, a non-profit dedicated to solving health IT interoperability for the public good, established three subgroups to reflect the issues facing distinct actor categories affected by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) final rule on interoperability and information blocking, the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) proposed rule on information blocking enforcement and any related future rule making.
The Sequoia Project Interoperability Matters Information Blocking Workgroup is charged with providing input to The Sequoia Project and the interoperability community on public and private sector implementation of U.S. federal government laws, regulations, guidance, and enforcement for information blocking as defined in the 21st Century Cures legislation. The Workgroup identifies practical, implementation-level implications of proposed and final rules issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services addressing information blocking. It focuses on the broad needs of public and private sector stakeholders and at the same time remains focused on implementation-level and operational aspects of information blocking rules and related activities.
The three Information Blocking Subgroups 1) Healthcare Providers 2) Health IT Developers 3) HIE/HINs are designed to identify issues of particular importance by “actor” and create guidance, best practices, and recommendations for “actors” relating to Information Blocking and Patient Access Final Rule (CMS-9115-F).
Jennifer imparts a unique perspective from the data requestor category to the Healthcare Provider subgroup as the CEO of OneRecord - a consumer data management platform built on best practices as defined in interoperability standards and using secured APIs, to enable individuals to take control of their healthcare. The Healthcare Provider subgroup will be meeting monthly and supply feedback in anticipation of the Information Blocking compliance date which was recently extended to be April 5, 2021.
“As an app enabling consumers to access and aggregate their healthcare data from across healthcare organizations, we are uniquely positioned to provide feedback on the real-world barriers that still exist for consumers in accessing their Electronic Health Information (EHI) as defined by CMS-9115-F. This included but not limited to the adoption of FHIR APIs, whitelisting of third party apps and education relating to a consumer’s Right of Access under HIPAA.”
To learn more about Jennifer or OneRecord, visit www.onerecord.com, contact hello@onerecord.com, or follow OneRecord on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
For more information on The Sequoia Project’s Interoperability Matters initiative and to stay updated on subgroup announcements, visit the Interoperability Matters website.
