5th NHIT Summit Hosts Launch of ONC Info Blocking Rule and Initiative to Bring Interoperability to those Impacted by Natural Disasters
Dr. Don Rucker, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), officially announced the ONC Proposed Rule 21st Century Cures Rule for the first time at the NHIT Summit.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Keynote speaker at The National HIT Collaborative for the Underserved, Inc. (NHIT®) 5th Annual Summit, Dr. Don Rucker, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), caught participants by surprise when he announced:
"You are the very first to officially and literally hear that the ONC Proposed Rule 21st Century Cures Rule dropped at 8:45am this morning. We think that patients having access to their electronic health records on their smartphones will empower them to be informed consumers of their health care, and this proposed rule will help make that possible."
The 5th NHIT Annual Summit titled "Building the Technology Infrastructure for Health and Resilience" and held on Monday, February 11, 2019 at HIMSS19 brought together government and corporate executives representing all corners of the health and healthcare ecosystem. The group engaged in invigorating discussions regarding preparing for Natural Disasters, the Opioid Crisis, Precision Medicine, and preserving the Lifeline program.
Dr. Rucker's announcement came after Former Congresswoman Donna Christensen announced a new strategic initiative launched by NHIT, EagleForce, and Health Gorilla to solve a critical problem experienced by those impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria - the inability for clinicians and emergency responders to track patients in need and those who were evacuated from Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The goal is simple, to empower patients with their medication, immunization and health record data at all times and in all places.
"When the storms hit Puerto Rico and the USVI, many people who remained in the islands or were evacuated to the mainland lost access to critical health information – medications, immunizations, past health conditions. The NHIT Medication and Immunization Management Initiative combines modern APIs with technologies tailored to the needs of clinicians and the people they serve to rapidly enable information sharing in the islands and beyond," said Congresswoman Christiansen, a physician and former health administrator for the USVI.
"We're thrilled to partner with the NHIT on the Medication and Immunization Management Initiative to enable data sharing for patients impacted by natural disasters, especially in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands," said Steve Yaskin, CEO and co-founder of Health Gorilla.
"Throughout my 30 plus years in national enterprise health solution empowerment the NHIT MIMI-RX program may serve as the first platform specifically designed to empower patient ownership of their own data and clinicians ability to track patients care continuum even after a natural disaster causes displacement and relocation. This empowerment of patient centered health through secure and interoperable access to their medical records, furthers the NHIT mission to deliver innovative technology to address health disparities in the underserved," said Cheryl Campbell, President at the EagleForce Warrior Foundation.
NHIT Annual Summit panels on disaster preparedness, the opioid epidemic, and precision medicine challenged participants to take advantage of health technology to include and address the needs of underserved communities, rural communities, and veterans in underserved communities.
"HIMSS applauds the NHIT Collaborative for consistently working to further explore solutions to increasingly complex challenges and to maximize positive outcomes to underserved communities," said Denise Hines, Chief Americas Officer of HIMSS.
"Underserved communities and technology remain central to the success of the 'All of Us' program, the national effort to stem the opioid epidemic and prepare for the next hurricane or natural disaster. NHIT remains the pre-eminent national organization advocating for these communities. Bringing together the right medical enterprise leaders to rapidly advance progress coupled with the launch of The NHIT - Medication and Immunization Management Initiative positions the organization for 2019 building, tailoring and offering solutions that will scale nationally for years to come," said Luis Belen, CEO of NHIT.
About NHIT
The National HIT Collaborative for the Underserved, Inc. (NHIT), is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, established in 2008 with a mission to engage underserved populations in the development and use of health information technology (HIT) as a means to support and sustain health equity and economic viability based on NHIT's five pillars: Workforce, Innovation, Policy, Research, and Community.
About ONC
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is at the forefront of the administration's health IT efforts and is a resource to the entire health system to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care. ONC is organizationally located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
About EagleForce Health, LLC
EagleForce Health is an Advanced Analytics Company that established its pedigree in the Defense and Intelligence sector of the government solving some of the country's biggest challenges. The Company has many patents in the area of eligibility and predictive analytics which it employs in solving some of healthcare's most difficult problems with respect to disparate data interoperability by utilizing artificial intelligence, neural computing and enhanced data modeling. For more information, please contact us or visit our website: http://www.TheEagleForce.net
About Health Gorilla
Founded in 2014, Health Gorilla is a secure interoperability solution that enables the entire health care ecosystem – patients, payers, providers, digital health solutions, and labs – to seamlessly share health data and aggregate each patient's entire clinical history in one place. With enterprise-grade patient identity matching, an unparalleled patient index, and best-in-class security, the Health Gorilla network makes it easy for providers to pull their patient's information from any other clinical records system. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Health Gorilla works with health care organizations around the world, helping them gather the clinical data they need to deliver the best and most appropriate care for their patients.
SOURCE National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved
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