Governments across the globe have established programs to encourage and incentivize health system interoperability. In the United States, the following programs are particularly notable in driving interoperability:
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 provided the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with the authority to establish programs to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency through the promotion of health IT. In the beginning of this tutorial, we briefly introduced you to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), established by this Act.
Since 2011, the CMS EHR Incentive Programs (now known as the Promoting Interoperability Programs) have provided financial incentives to providers and healthcare organizations that demonstrate "Meaningful Use" with certified EHR systems.
The 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 included provisions that advance interoperability, including:
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 incentivized the adoption of EHR technology and the use of health data standards through advance care information (ACI).
The ONC Certification Program requires the use of EHR technology for participation in federal programs and encourages vendors to develop EHRs that support health data standards such as CDA and FHIR.
The CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule of 2020 requires that Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid, CHIP, and federal health plans to adopt standardized APIs to enable patient access to their health information.
These programs have collectively driven the adoption of health data standards and interoperability across the U.S. healthcare system, making it easier for providers to share information and for patients to access their health records.