Information Technology (IT) is empowering the healthcare industry to deliver quality care. And, regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) enable the sharing of health information among healthcare enterprises. This gives the opportunity to securely communicate health information with the community. Deevita’s HIPAA compliant cloud services offer a great way to build health IT solutions on the cloud.
Let’s look at how good are the current technologies when it comes to data portability in healthcare. How can a healthcare organization set a benchmark in data portability? To enhance the portability of health information, the development, testing, and use of health IT, the technologies should provide the ability for quick access, exchange, and use of electronic health information. Such is Deevita’s healthcare interoperability solutions which can provide individual electronic access to health information across the healthcare chain of the patient in a secure manner.
There is more room for Health IT to improve the portability of digital health information and facilitate the HIPAA individual right of access. Individuals now have the ability to use internet-based technology to transmit their health information to a third-party, directly from the provider’s technology to any email address, as requested by the patient.
Focusing on accelerating individuals’ ability to access, share, and using their health information on their smartphones or other mobile devices alone should not be enough. APIs should also increase data portability and serve as a technology to further implement the health information portability concept. For example, developers and users of health IT should enable individuals to use an API to make a request to exercise their HIPAA right of access and to request that their health information be transmitted to a designated third-party.
The interoperability efforts of a healthcare enterprise should focus on improving individuals’ ability to access and share their health information to better enable them to shop for and coordinate their own care. Organizations should be dedicated to putting patients first, allowing them to be empowered consumers of healthcare by making the information they need to be engaged.
