The challenge of patient matching

Steven Posnack serves as director of the Office of Standards and Technology. In this role, Mr. Posnack advises the national coordinator, leads the ONC Health IT Certification Program, and directs ONC’s standards and technology investments through the ONC Tech Lab, which organizes its work into four focus areas: pilots, standards coordination, testing and utilities, and innovation. He led the creation of the Interoperability Standards Advisory, the redesign of ONC’s Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL), created the Interoperability Proving Ground, and developed the C-CDA Scorecard. In June, Mr. Posnack’s office issued a Patient Matching Algorithm Challenge. PARCA eNews spoke with him about patient matching and challenges of ensuring accurate identification of all parts of a patient record. 

Study of patient matching attributes shows big drop for SSN

PARCA eNews – July 13, 2017 – First and last name, date of birth, gender and address continue to be widely available for patient matching over time, however, use of Social Security Number availability fell from 83.3 percent in 2005 to 50.44 percent in 2014, according to new patient matching research.

The study in the journal Applied Clinical Informatics, led by Adam Culbertson, HIMSS innovator in residence, compiled a list of 36 demographic elements that stakeholders had previously identified as essential patient demographic attributes that should be collected for the purpose of linking patient records. They then analyzed a data sample between 2005-2014 from 9 health care systems in geographically distinct sites around the country to see how much patient demographics varied over time and across clinical sites.

HSS cuts may eliminate ONC's offices of Privacy and interoperability

PARCA eNews – July 18, 2017 – The ONC may need to eliminate the Office of Care Transformation, Office of Chief Privacy Officer, and Office of Clinical Quality if the administration’s proposed budget for HHS is passed, which could slash the ONC’s funding from $60 million to $38 million, according to reports in HIPAA Journal and Politico.

While the House Appropriations Committee sidestepped the administration’s original overall HHS funding cuts, it kept the 37 percent cut to ONC and ONC National Coordinator Don Rucker, M.D. told HIPAA Journal that the office (of Chief Privacy Officer) will be closed out in fiscal year 2018.

OCR updates guidance for HIPAA organizations’ use of cloud computing services

PARCA eNews – July 3, 2017 – The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued updated guidance for HIPAA-covered organizations regarding the use of cloud computing and file sharing tools such as Sharepoint and DropBox and others.

Questions about whether and how organizations can take advantage of these tools while maintaining HIPAA privacy and security compliance. Lumping them into the term of cloud services providers (CSPs) the OCR’s guidance answers 11 questions ranging from "Can a HIPAA covered organization use CSPs to questions about security, privacy and breach notification.

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ONC to hold forum on interoperability

PARCA eNews – July 15, 2017 – ONC is hosting a two-day, in-person only forum focusing on the technical aspects of interoperability. The Aug. 15-16: "Beyond Boundaries: ONC’s 2017 Technical Interoperability Forum" will focus on how ONC, its federal partners, the health care industry, and the technology sector can come together to shape the technical aspects of interoperability.

The free forum will take place at at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC. If you lead, develop, and implement health IT systems or standards, this event is for you. Registration details will be available July 21.

Date & Time: Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 9:15am - 5:30pm ET & Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at 9:00am - 1:00pm ET. Click for more information.

Netherlands-based AI company moves toward lung cancer prediction

PARCA eNews – July 1, 2017 – Amsterdam-based Aidence expects its first CE marking for the European market in the third quarter of this year, according to a press release.

The company, which is developing AI technology for imaging diagnostics, recently raised € 2.25 million from a group of investors that includes HenQ, Health Innovations, Northzone,  and physicians from the Hague-based Haaglanden hospital group.

Survey shows 65% of organizations have reported security incidents

PARCA eNews – July 12, 2017 – Netwrix Corporation, a security and privacy auditing provider has published its market research study looking at IT risks aimed at the current status of security and privacy concerns of IT managers and officers.

With the 2017 IT Risks Report, Netwrix analyzed how organizations are working to combat various IT risks based on a survey of IT pros concerning the IT risks they deal with on a daily basis. They looked at processes and resources they have in place to address those risks, and how prepared they are for today’s cyber threats. Key findings presented in the report include:

SIIM 2017, well attended, looks at future role of AI in clinical data

PARCA eNews – June 17, 2017 – The SIIM 2017 (Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine) wrapped up June 3 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. PARCA founder and board member Herman Osterwijk says it was well attended and attracted more exhibitors than last year.