HITEQ Resources & Events

The Weitzman Institute and the Moses/Weitzman Health System are pleased to present the latest installment of our series of informative discussions with an exclusive panel of global experts driving the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). April Joy Damian, PhD, MSc, CHPM, PMP, Vice President and Director of the Weitzman Institute will moderate this latest discussion, "AI Fundamentals and Applications in Primary Care," on Wednesday, October 26 at 1 pm Eastern| 10 am Pacific.  

This webinar will bring together industry AI leaders with an evidence-based applied perspective on using AI in primary care to:

• Understand AI history, definitions, methodology, benefits, and healthcare use cases
• Explore the most common and validated use cases in primary care
• Examine implications of AI in promoting health equity and improving healthcare access and outcomes

This session will provide an overview of the recently published United States Core Data for Interoperability Version 4 (USCDI v4) and its relationship to HL7® FHIR® US Core and C-CDA, the health IT standards which enable exchange of USCDI data. This session will discuss the interrelated processes of updating each of these standards in a way that promotes adoption of these newer standards while minimizing development and implementation burden.

Patient use of their health information accessible to them through online tools (e.g., patient portals and smartphone apps) can help empower them to make informed decisions about their health and track progress on health-related goals, potentially resulting in improved patient outcomes (1). Enabling patients to access and use the information contained in online medical records and patient portals may also provide significant health system benefits, including decreased healthcare costs and strengthened patient- physician relationships (1). In 2020, ONC published the Cures Act Final Rule to increase patient and provider access to health-related data, specifically through health IT developer adoption of secure standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) that make this information more widely available across smartphone apps (2). The API requirements, which as of 2023 have been rolled out to health care providers, enable patients to electronically access their electronic health information using apps. This brief analyzes recent data from the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults, to assess progress in patient access amidst implementation of Cures Rule provisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which likely increased demand for access to online medical records. This brief also reports on methods and frequency of individuals’ access and use of online medical records and patient portals.

CoE-PHI resource that describes the Information Blocking Rule and explains that it does not preempt stricter privacy laws and regulations such as 42 CFR Part 2.

Key Points:

• Information blocking includes practices that would “interfere with, prevent, or materially discourage the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information.”
• Following a legal requirement to obtain patient consent for a disclosure meets the “privacy exception” in the Information Blocking Rule and is not considered information blocking.
• If a portal cannot segment Part 2-protected records or prevent a patient’s proxy from unconsented access to such records, the healthcare provider should not share Part 2-protected records on the portal.

Digital patient engagement investments is a broad category that includes all digital health tools your health center uses to reach and support patients. These include patient portals, messaging and outreach apps, remote patient monitoring tools, and mHealth apps. Despite the hopes and promises of new technologies, implementation of digital tools in health centers can be uneven and siloed, hindering progress on adoption, engagement, and transformation.