Talisha Searcy
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Talisha Searcy's Latest Blog Posts
Does ONC’s Certification Program Affect Interoperability? New Evidence and Implications
Talisha Searcy | July 20, 2021
ONC is excited to share findings from newly published research that sheds light on the impact adoption of 2015 Edition certified health information technology (health IT) has had on hospitals’ rates of interoperability. In a recently published Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association article called Impact of the 2015 Health Information Technology Certification Edition on Interoperability among Hospitals, we examined how variation in the adoption of 2015 Edition certified health IT impacted key measures of interoperable exchange.
Read Full Post.New Data Show Nearly One-Third of Hospitals Can Access PDMP Data within their EHR
Talisha Searcy | October 23, 2019
Combatting the opioid crisis is a top priority for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the nation. Equipping healthcare providers with easy access to data about their patients’ opioid prescriptions is one strategy to help reduce opioid misuse. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) are state-run databases that collect patient-specific prescription information at the point of care, or when a controlled substance is dispensed. PDMPs can be a tool for health care providers to improve prescribing practices,
Read Full Post.Acute Care Hospitals Are More Interoperable Than Ever but Challenges Remain
Talisha Searcy | October 25, 2018
Today, nearly all non-federal acute care hospitals have adopted certified health IT. New data show that this momentum continues with the introduction of the 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria (2015 Edition), which includes new technical capabilities (such as application programming interfaces) that were not required as part of the prior 2014 Edition. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) analysis of 2017 data from the American Hospital Association’s Information Technology Supplement Survey reveals that 93 percent of non-federal acute care hospitals have already upgraded to the 2015 Edition or plan to upgrade.
Read Full Post.New Data Show More Hospitals than Ever Making Information Available Electronically to Patients
Talisha Searcy | September 13, 2016
To help individuals manage their health, beginning in 2011, the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs called on health care providers to enable patients to electronically view, download, and transmit their health information to a destination of the patient’s choice. In 2015, the Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap [PDF – 2.6 MB] reaffirmed this objective.
Read Full Post.Measuring Interoperability: Listening and Learning
Talisha Searcy | July 1, 2016
In April we asked for your input and comments on ways for us to measure how well our nation’s health care system is doing in achieving “widespread interoperability,” as required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). Separate from the provisions that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed to implement through the Quality Payment Program for payment of office-based Medicare physicians, MACRA specifically calls on HHS to establish metrics for the exchange and use of clinical information to facilitate coordinated care and improve patient outcomes between participants in the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and others nationwide.
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