ONC targets payers with interoperability rule

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology introduced a proposed rule on Wednesday to improve interoperability between payers, public health organizations and providers. 

ONC's proposed rule would establish voluntary certifications for health IT software tools used by public health organizations and payers. The proposed rule implements provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law in December 2016 by President Obama.

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The rule is first time the office has aimed to certify technology used by groups within the payer and public health sectors. 

The certificate for payer-focused criteria was co-developed with CMS to support technical requirements included in the CMS' interoperability and prior authorization final rule that was proposed in February and finalized in April. Tripathi said ONC aims to standardize electronic prior authorization technology to reduce documentation requirements and lower administrative costs.

ONC co-developed the voluntary certificate for public health organizations with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

While the certifications are voluntary, Tripathi said forming the standards could lead to better experiences for patients throughout healthcare and improve the flow of data.

“There is nothing in regulation right now that would compel anyone who is deploying that CMS-required [application programming interfaces] to get certified,” said Micky Tripathi, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, during a call with reporters. “What we’re hoping is that by creating that voluntary certification program [is] that the market itself wants to be able to step up and leverage that interoperability.” 

The proposed final rule, the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability, or HTI-2, will be published in the federal register soon, according to ONC's release. Once it's published, there will be a 60-day public comment period.

Tripathi and Troy Tazbaz, director of Food and Drug Administration's Digital Health Center of Excellence, resigned from board positions at the Coalition for Health AI, an industry group aiming to create artificial intelligence standards for healthcare on Friday.