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A clinical professor at the school will discuss at HIMSS16 how a combination of people, process and technology drove success.

This time of year, millions of Americans file taxes. We are required to move sensitive financial data from employers and banks to the Internal Revenue Service. In the old days, we waited for paper W2’s and bank statements to arrive by mail and then spent hours with pencils and stacks of paper. But now tax preparation software enables automatic retrieval and upload of data in seconds and without error. Why is this possible? Because each of us controls our own financial data.  Now imagine that we want our sensitive health records transferred to a new doctor. We fill out paper forms, mail or fax them, pay fees, and if we are lucky a stack of printed paper records arrives by fax or mail at our new doctor’s office weeks or months later. Weeks after that they might be scanned into an electronic health record as images but, even then, they can’t be searched easily. At our first visit, we will answer a long list of questions. The answers are in our record, but the office staff and doctor will find it more efficient to re-enter them manually. There will be errors (like the male patient of Eric’s recorded by the system as female).   See all of our HIMSS16 previews Why the difference? Much has been written recently about information blocking — the inability or unwillingness of hospitals and doctors to share electronic data from our health records with one another. Lack of technical interoperability and regulations protecting security, privacy, and confidentiality are often blamed. But the reality is that technical barriers are falling. The same technology that enables your smartphone to pull sensitive financial data from your bank to pay your taxes or a taxi driver can be applied to your health care records. More importantly, the regulatory path to health records sharing is now open — the rules are already on the books. There are three ways your health care records can be shared electronically. All require your permission. One doctor’s system can query another doctor’s system for specific bits of your record (a digital version of a phone call request). One doctor’s system can push bits of your record to another doctor’s system (a digital version of a fax). Or the doctor’s system can give you your record and you can give it to anyone you wish. The last approach is called “consumer-mediated” sharing.  The advantage of consumer-mediated sharing is that you control your data, and you authorize access to it each time.  The disadvantage? Most people would rather not waste time with the tedium of authorizing data access, especially as it might exist today in online portals run by doctor offices, hospitals, and insurance companies. They want convenience. This is where the application programming interface or API could come into play. Just as tax preparation software handles the details, the right health care APIs can enable the exchange of data for specific purposes. Need a record of your last physical exam for softball camp? Need to know how much you spent on health care claims last year? Need to let your primary care doctor know the results of a recent specialist or emergency room visit? The right app could handle each of those needs for you with a few simple clicks.  How do recent regulatory changes permit this to happen? First, by law (HIPAA), health systems have to give you your data upon request. In 2015, the federal government set a new requirement that providers must provide that data to an application you designate (meaningful use Stage 3 regulation paragraph 495.24(d)(5)(ii)). Second, the data must be available in “machine readable” form so the app can help you make sense of it (HIT Certification regulation 170.315(g)(9)(ii)(3)). To meet these technical requirements, health records vendors have voluntarily agreed to collaborate on open standards for securing access to clinical information. Third, the apps will have to be secure in addition to being easy to use.  The tax preparation software example illustrates that we will pay others to move our data if they can do so securely. But for them to earn our trust, they will have to meet the privacy, security, and consumer protection standards that are required for sensitive health data.  The technical and regulatory pathway is clear. Nothing in law or regulation prevents consumer-mediated health record sharing. If we enlist someone we trust – our neighborhood health system, our insurer, our doctor, or even a favorite retailer to demand data on our behalf – the hospitals and doctors we authorize must respond. If we consumers demand and authorize easy record sharing, the health care system must make it happen.  Eric Schneider, MD is Senior Vice President for Policy and Research at the CommonWealth Fund, Aneesh Chopra is the co-founder and executive vice president of Hunch Analytics, and David Blumenthal, MD, is President of the CommonWealth Fund.   

HIMSS16 is shaping up to be the largest gathering of healthcare IT professionals ever assembled. It will build on a tradition that began in 1993 with just 4,000 attendees and continues to grow steadily. Last year’s conference drew more than 43,000 professionals to Chicago.  And even more are expected to attend this year’s conference in Las Vegas. As veteran conference-goers know, once the conference begins, sanity becomes a precious commodity. Schedules are difficult to maintain. Navigation between point A and point B suddenly becomes a challenge. The effort must be worth it. Veteran attendees continue to make it an annual pilgrimage. See all of our HIMSS16 previews So in the interest of keeping you sane while you pack as much networking and education into your allotted time, here are some tips to help you get the most from your time in Las Vegas. Tip One: The shuttle is free Las Vegas has plenty of taxi cabs but you don’t need to spend your expense account on car fare. HIMSS provides a free shuttle service from most hotels during regular conference hours. You’ll find the schedule here. There is even free transportation to the airport. Tip Two: Know the territory There will be more than 1,300 vendors exhibiting in the Sands Expo, spread out over 3 levels. The exhibit space will occupy over 1.3 million square feet of space. That’s equivalent to 22 NFL size football fields. Spend some time reviewing the Exhibit Hall map before you step off the shuttle bus and find yourself blinded by the sea of bright lights. Level One, which is also marked as Hall G of the Exhibit Hall, is the exhibit area you will encounter when you arrive at the main transportation outlet, which is where buses will stop. This exhibit hall contains the higher-numbered exhibits, Booths 9600 - 13999. Here you’ll find hundreds of exhibits and many specialty exhibit areas such as the Connected Health Experience, Cybersecurity Command Center, Federal Health Pavilion, HIMSS Interoperability Showcase, Intelligent Health Pavilion, Clinical & Business Intelligence, Population Health, Disaster Preparedness, Revenue Cycle and University Row.  [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Level Two, up the escalators, is where you’ll find booths 100 – 8599 including many of the large Anchor Exhibitors, First Time Exhibitors and many HIMSS exhibits including:  HIMSS Analytics, HIMSS Bookstore, HIMSS Media, HIMSS Spot and the new HIMSS16 Living Room, a meeting space where you can relax and meet other members. Level Three is home to HX360 and exhibit space marked from 30001 – 38006. This level contains all HX360 programs and activities, including the Innovation Leaders Program, the Executive Program and the Innovation Pavilion, Start-up Showcase and the Venture+ Forum. If you’re lucky enough to have a ticket to the Executive Program, this is where you’ll find Former Utah Gov. Mitt Romney, who is scheduled to speak on Wednesday, March 2. Tip Three: Plan your education carefully The education begins first thing Monday, February 29 at 8 a.m. sharp. The Pre-Conference Symposia run throughout the day, organized around specific educational topics, but they all conclude by 5:30 p.m., in time for the opening keynote presentation, a joint session with Michael Dell, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dell Inc. and Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary of Health & Human Services. The exhibit hall is not open Monday, so you will be able to focus on educational sessions. But when the exhibit hall is open Tuesday through Thursday, the choices will be more difficult. Over 300 educational sessions take place in ballrooms located adjacent to the Exhibit Hall area; they are all listed here. In addition, there are over 80 educational sessions presented on the exhibit hall floor as part of the Knowledge Centers; you’ll find a guide here Tip Four: Expand your social circle The last “S” in HIMSS stands for “society” so don’t be anti-social. This is a prime opportunity to form new professional relationships. Everyone taking the shuttle bus or waiting for a session to start shares a common interest with you, so seize the opportunity to make a new friend. Gatherings take place every evening and they start on Monday. After the keynote ends Monday at 7 p.m., follow the very big crowd as everyone makes their way to the first party of HIMSS16: an Exhibit Hall opening reception from 7 to 8 p.m., open to all registered attendees. Wine and cheese will be served. For the official directory of networking opportunities, visit the HIMSS16 Conference website networking section. Tip Five: The HIMSS16 Mobile app knows where you’re going Advance preparation will get you only so far. Once you’re at the conference, you’ll still want help finding your way around. The HIMSS16 Mobile App provides the location of all exhibitors and educational sessions. Looking for food services? They’re listed. Need to find the luggage check? Ditto. Shuttle bus schedule, shipping services, re-charging stations, they’re all listed and easy to find. And the app also has a new way to network: an activity feed where attendees share updates and photos, and see what other people are up to. You’ll find the app in the iTunes store or Google Play by searching for HIMSS. Here are a few maps of the floorplan. Twitter: @GusVenditto This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

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The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine are making progress tackling the issues associated with incomplete data in patients' digital health records. Founded a year ago, the HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Workgroup is focused on unmanaged – and sometimes missing – imaging data in patients' electronic health history. “Despite widespread electronic health record implementations, many patients and doctors find the majority of their clinical data lies in poorly integrated diagnostic image, documentation image and clinical scanned document silos,” Christopher Roth, MD, vice chair of radiology and director of imaging informatics strategy at Duke Health, said in a statement. [Also: 21 awesome photos from past HIMSS conferences] This is where the workgroup comes in, HIMSS and SIMM members point out. The group offers a platform for sharing enterprise imaging strategies, creating awareness that images are an essential part of the electronic health record, inclusive of, yet broader than the more pervasive radiology or cardiology domains. “This joint effort between HIMSS and SIIM highlights the importance of this topic and provides timely resources that offer organizations insights on how to manage and share imaging data across the enterprise,” Joyce Sensmeier, HIMSS vice president, informatics, HIMSS North America, said in a statement. In its first year, the workgroup has addressed critical topics resulting in the publication of several whitepapers. Among them: Enterprise Imaging Governance: Needs, Models, and Intents to Consider; The Current State and Path Forward for Enterprise Image Viewing; A Foundation for Enterprise Imaging; Orders Versus Encounters Based Image Capture: Implications Pre- and Post-Procedure Workflow, Technical and Build Capabilities, Resulting, Analytics and Revenue Capture; Workflow Challenges of Enterprise Imaging; Technical Challenges of Enterprise Imaging, and Considerations for Exchanging and Sharing Medical Images for Improved Collaboration and Patient Care. Twitter: @HealthITNews This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

Los Angeles-based Complete P.T. Pool & Land Physical Therapy will pay $25,000 to settle HIPAA violations for allegedly posting patient testimonials, including full names and photos, on its website without obtaining authorization. The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced the settlement terms on its website on Feb. 16. The settlement also requires Complete P.T. to adopt and implement a corrective action plan, and annual reporting of compliance efforts for one year. [Also: 8 out of 10 mobile health apps open to HIPAA violations] The complaint filed with the OCR on Aug. 8, 2012 said Complete P.T. was required by HIPAA to seek authorization for the testimonials. OCR’s investigation revealed that Complete P.T failed to reasonably safeguard protected health information, disclosed PHI without authorization,and failed to implement policies and procedures with respect to PHI that were designed to comply with HIPAA’s requirements. "The HIPAA Privacy Rule gives individuals important controls over whether and how their protected health information is used and disclosed for marketing purposes," said OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels in a statement posted on the OCR website. "With limited exceptions, the Rule requires an individual’s written authorization before a use or disclosure of his or her protected health information can be made for marketing." Twitter: @HealthITNews

The Healthcare Leadership Council has identified six healthcare reforms that should be implemented by the White House, Congress and the healthcare industry to reform healthcare; it was announced last week at a Capitol Hill briefing and in a report highlighting the changes. For starters, nationwide health information interoperability in the private sector should be achieved by December 31, 2018, the group said. The group also targeted the Food and Drug Administration, saying reforms that focus on reducing administrative burdens placed on the organization should be enacted so the FDA can better bring innovative treatments and technology to patients. [Also: Hollywood Presbyterian gives in to hackers] “These steps aren’t revolutionary, but they're transformative,” said HLC President Mary R. Grealy, in a statement. “Innovation is too often put on the backburner when we discuss healthcare policy, but it’s critical to elevating health system value and to address quality and cost challenges." The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also needs to improve the Enhanced Medication Therapy Management Model to reach its goal of improving patient health and should implement best practices for Medicare, insurers and healthcare providers to improve care for the chronically ill, the group said. The federal government should reform outdated physician self-referral and anti-kickback statutes and expand Medicare payment waiver policies to protect against fraud and abuse, while improving care coordination. Cybersecurity also needs focus, the group said, pointing to Congress and the states to standardize privacy laws and increase access to patient data. The recommendations are compiled from the HLC's National Dialogue for Healthcare Innovation initiative – a collaboration of patient advocacy leaders, drug company representatives, patient advocacy leaders, patient groups and other industry experts that convened over the course of a few months. David Barrett, CEO of Lahey Clinic and Bill Hawkins, chairman and CEO of Medtronic, co-chaired the group. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] “There's a widespread understanding that, for all of our healthcare system’s considerable strengths, we need to make strides in providing high-quality care at sustainable costs," Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier, Inc. and HLC chair, said in a statement. "The six steps on which we have reached agreement will move us significantly in that direction." HLC has begun meetings with congressional leaders about the recommendations and will continue the conversations in the coming weeks. The compiled recommendations were produced by a partnership with NORC, the independent public policy research organization at the University of Chicago. Twitter: @JessiefDavis

Healthcare organizations are making big investments in population health and patient engagement platforms as they prepare to move past meaningful use and toward value-based reimbursement, according to "The Big Mega HIT Purchasing Report" released Monday by market research firm peer60. Electronic health records remain core to healthcare IT, according to the report, which gathered 567 responses from CEOs, CIOs, nursing and financial leaders and others with purchasing authority at hospitals and medical practices. However,many customers are still dissatisfied with their products. Projected EHR replacement rates for 2016 show 23 percent of health providers (inpatient and outpatient combined) planning to look for new vendors, according to peer60. [Also: Hospitals keeping close eye on revenue cycle vendors] Still, "population health and patient engagement are the hottest areas by a wide margin," wrote peer60 executive vice president Chris Jensen in the report. "It’s really no surprise these two segments continue to lead the way among hospital IT upgrades considering their impact on successful migration to value-based care and value-based purchasing." As for pop health, peer60s sees some stabilization in contracting plans. In 2015, roughly 25 percent of providers were certain they'd keep their population health vendor; in 2016, that amount has doubled. "The pressure is on for vendors that have not already made their mark in this market because they’re about to be squeezed by increasing renewal rates and a declining pool of hospitals that have not already adopted," said Jensen. [Also: New trends ahead for imaging informatics] But when it comes to patient engagement, authors see the opposite. "More enterprise vendors are capturing more of the minds of providers, while interest in the best of breed crowd is beginning to dwindle," Jensen said. Other big purchasing trends are also unsurprising. Data security, enterprise analytics and revenue cycle management are all in play. Security technology, especially, has seen a big jump in provider interest. "In 2015 it was at the bottom of the list of top IT priorities and placed third this year," said Jensen. "Since this is not a growth market with 90 percent of hospitals already employing a true data security solution, the jump in interest in this area likely means the replacement market for more robust solutions in this very critical segment is heating up. Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN