ONC, CMS ease enforcement of Interoperability Final Rules in response to COVID-19 crisis

Don Rucker, MD National
Coordinator for Health
Information Technology (ONC)

PARCA eNews – April 21, 20220 – The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in conjunction with the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced today compliance flexibilities regarding the implementation of the interoperability final rules announced on March 9, 2020. 

The relaxation of enforcement was a policy decision made as a result of the COVID-19 emergency.

Imaging practices impacted by COVID-19

Photo credit – Diagnostic and Interventional
Cardiology

PARCA eNews – March 24, 2020 – Because cardiovascular disease is the comorbidity that carries the highest death rate in COVID-19 patients, at about 10.5 percent, the use of cardiac imaging, places cardiovascular imagers in the front lines of COVID-19 patient care.

As cases of acute cardiovascular disease and cardiac complications caused by COVID-19 rose dramatically in early March and April, all the major cardiovascular imaging societies issued COVID-19 guidelines and lists of considerations for how to continue imaging operations safely under the threat of viral contamination for the duration of containment efforts.

FHIR lighting the way to patient record sharing

Grahame Grieve of Health Intersections, PTY LTD –
photo credit HiMSS 19

Grahame Grieve has been called the father of FHIR as the principal evangelist for the web-based standard for exchanging patient health records. The acronym stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources and over the past eight years it has slowly emerged as the standard of choice for sharing patient records as they move around the healthcare system. This past month the FHIR HL7 standard was given a big boost as the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator issued its final rules for interoperability requiring certain government health coverage plans to support a standardized API HL7 FHIR for patient information exchanges.

Scientists develop handheld imaging device with 100 times higher resolution than CT

PARCA eNews – March 25, 2020 – Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed the prototype of a handheld medical imaging device that can produce images down to resolutions of 1 to 2 micrometres.

CMS expands telehealth services covered by Medicare

A patient and his medical provider communicate 

via Video Technology Conferencing (VTC).

PARCA eNews – March 20, 2020 – In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) broadened access to Medicare telehealth services so that beneficiaries can receive a wider range of services from their doctors without having to travel to a healthcare facility.

The policy changes that provide coverage for a greater range of services delivered by telehealth systems build on the regulatory flexibilities granted under the President’s emergency declaration.

Radiology shifts from diagnostic testing to preparedness for COVID-19

PARCA eNews –March 16, 2020 – In the early rise of the COVID-19 crisis in Wuhan, China, hospitals and government public health authorities were relying on chest CT findings of peripheral ground-glass infiltrates and or organizing pneumonia as a surrogate for COVID-19 infection. 

Most medical imaging devices run on outdated operating systems

PARCA eNews – March 12, 2020 – An overwhelming majority (83 percent) of medical imaging devices are running old operating systems with little to no ability to receive crucial security updates according to a new report by security tech form Palo Alto Networks.

Radiology group reports PACS hack

PARCA eNews – March 11, 2020 –Northeast Radiology today announced that it is addressing a data security incident, caused by unauthorized individuals, which may have involved the personal information of some patients. 

Northeast Radiology and its healthcare management services provider, Alliance HealthCare Services, have completed an investigation with a leading forensic security firm and are evaluating systems and processes to help prevent future occurrences.

HHS and CMS issue final interoperability rules

PARCA eNews – March 9, 2020 –The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced the final rules for implementing interoperability and patient access provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act.

HiMSS 2020 cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns

The Orlando Convention Center, site of HiMSS 2020 was empty as a
result of the cancellation of HiMSS 2020

PARCA eNews – March 5, 2020 – The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society citing the Covid-19 concerns cancelled its massive HiMSS 2020 conference and exhibition that had been scheduled for March 9 to March 13 in Orlando Florida.