ONC reports health IT progress to Congress

PARCA eNews – Feb. 29, 2016 – The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) issued its annual report to Congress on health IT progress on Feb. 29. 

The 47-page report outlines a string of initiatives aimed at improving the IT infrastructure supporting the nation’s moonshot aimed at moving from a paper-based to digital healthcare system.

In 2015, ONC initiated critical actions to accelerate these goals, such as the Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA)—a single resource for those looking for federally recognized, national interoperability standards and guidance—and the 2015 Edition Final Rule, which adopts standards and certification criteria designed to foster innovation, including through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs) and new transparency and accountability provisions. 

The ONC also collaborated with private-sector partners to advance health IT policy and innovation aimed at increasing precision medicine and delivery system reform better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.

Here is a summary of some of the progress in 2015 based on a number of annual surveys:

Health IT Adoption – According to survey data, EHR adoption among hospitals and physicians continued to increase. In 2014, nearly all hospitals (97 percent) reported possessing certified EHR technology. Three-quarters of physicians report possessing a certified EHR.

Health Information Exchange – Three-quarters of hospitals electronically exchange health information with outside providers, an increase of 23 percent between 2013 and 2014. 

Health information exchange among physicians remains relatively low. In 2014, 42 percent of physicians reported sharing patient information electronically, and 26 percent reported sharing patient health information electronically with outside providers.

Individual Access and Use of Personal Health Information – According to survey data, in 2014, nearly 40 percent of Americans were offered electronic access to their medical records. The proportion of Americans offered online access to their medical records rose by more than a third between 2013 and 2014. In 2014, 55 percent of individuals who were offered access viewed their information at least once within a 12-month period.

Health Information Exchange among Public Health Entities. As a result of HHS's health IT efforts, significant public health progress has occurred. According to survey data, in 2014, 90 percent of eligible professionals participating in Stage 2 of the Medicare EHR Incentive Program electronically reported immunizations to local registries and 72 percent of participating Medicare professionals who vaccinate, reported electronically to an Immunization Information Services (IIS).

Source: Report to Congress, February 2016