The COVID-19 pandemic produced some good news on data sharing and IT adoption and use. Not only did the pandemic change how hospitals and health systems view data, but it also drove reporting, according to Micky Tripathi, director of the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Speaking during a recent American Hospital Association (AHA) podcast, Tripathi also said HIPAA does not conflict with the information blocking regulations his office developed as required under the 21st Century Cures Act (see story, p. 1).[1]
Additionally, the pandemic enhanced patient engagement and prompted providers to realize the value of remote diagnostics, particularly with telehealth visits and the benefit of data from different sources “integrated with that [patient] experience,” Tripathi told Nancy Foster, AHA vice president for quality and patient safety policy.