/ en Fri, 25 Apr 2025 10:06:28 -0500 Tue, 04 Feb 25 15:04:34 -0600 /news/headline/2025-02-04-case-study-providence-health-lends-local-hospitals-hand-crafting-its-community-health-priorities <p>A case study by the AHA's Community Health Improvement network explains how Providence Health and Services took a data-driven, measurement-based approach to give local hospitals in seven states autonomy to identify and address the health system’s community health priorities. <a href="https://www.healthycommunities.org/system/files/media/file/2024/04/AHA-CHA-Providence-Case-Study.pdf" title="case study"><strong>LEARN MORE</strong></a> </p> Tue, 04 Feb 2025 15:04:34 -0600 Community Health Data <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-8"><p>The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), released the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability (HTI-2) <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/05/2024-14975/health-data-technology-and-interoperability-patient-engagement-information-sharing-and-public-health" target="_blank" title="The proposed rule text">proposed rule</a> for public comment. The HTI-2 proposed rule reflects ONC’s efforts to advance interoperability and improve information sharing among patients, providers, payers and public health authorities. Comments are due to the ONC by 5 p.m. ET, Oct. 4, 2024.</p><div class="panel module-typeC"><div class="panel-heading"><h2>Key Highlights</h2><p>The proposed rule would: </p><ul><li>Add technology and standards updates that build on the HTI-1 final rule, ranging from the capability to exchange clinical images (e.g., X-rays) to the addition of multi-factor authentication support.</li><li>Establish requirements for health IT that can be used by providers and payers to conduct streamlined electronic prior authorization.</li><li>Formally establish the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) provisions in the Code of Federal Regulations.</li><li>Expand the list of Information Blocking Rule exceptions including one for the Protecting Care Access exception, to protect actors who withhold Electronic Health Information (EHI) in certain cases to reduce legal risks that may be associated with sharing EHI.</li><li>Require adoption by Jan. 1, 2028, of Version 4 of the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI v4) certification criteria as the new baseline standard for EHI.</li></ul></div></div><h2>AHA TAKE</h2><p>The ONC intends for HTI-2 to advance public health interoperability, improve information sharing and support patient engagement. Much like its predecessor, HTI-1, the proposed rule predominately applies to health IT developers. However, hospitals and health systems will be affected by the updates in technology standards and other recommended changes. These updates should improve the accessibility and free exchange of clinical imaging data, such as X-rays and MRI results, and introduce reasonable security requirements, like multi-factor authentication and server encryption requirements for systems that handle electronic medical records. The AHA supports the security recommendations in the proposed rule that aligns with existing HIPAA Security Rule Safeguards and the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals. The AHA is also pleased the ONC is proposing to remove barriers to patient care and streamline the prior authorization process. It does so by supporting the technical requirements in CMS’s Interoperability and Prior Authorization final rule and requires payers to shift to electronic prior authorization. </p><p>The AHA is unclear, however, on what the ONC would accomplish with the other provisions in this proposed rule. The AHA is concerned about the TEFCA provisions because we have not seen widespread adoption of the framework by hospitals and health systems and it is not clear how adherence to the provisions will measurably improve patient access to care. Furthermore, the interaction of TEFCA with the rules on information blocking and the minimum-necessary requirement of HIPAA is unknown. These all require careful consideration of various legal, technical and privacy-related factors before TEFCA can be the accepted standard for clinical data sharing or a regulatory mandate for clinical data exchange. </p><p>Additionally, the AHA appreciates the ONC’s recognition of the complexity, safety issues and added work that arises from the manual processes required by hospitals and health systems to share information with public health authorities. However, the AHA questions whether the ONC has the authority to influence the way public health authorities manage and share electronic health records. Lastly, the AHA is disappointed that the ONC missed another opportunity to clearly define information blocking by offering specific examples and continues trying to define the rule by what it is not while just adding more exceptions. Although some of these new exceptions, such as broader definitions of “infeasibility,” could help protect providers from frivolous complaints, the other proposed exceptions are confusing, and their intended benefits are difficult to quantify. </p><h2>WHAT YOU CAN DO</h2><ul><li><strong>Share</strong> this advisory with your government relations, information systems and  compliance teams to apprise them of this proposed rule.</li><li><strong>Share</strong> any concerns and feedback on these provisions with the AHA.</li><li><strong>Submit</strong> by Oct. 4 to the ONC a comment letter explaining the rule’s impact on your hospital or health system.</li><li><strong>Watch</strong> for notice of a possible comment letter from the AHA on this topic.</li></ul><p>View the detailed Regulatory Advisory below.</p></div><div class="col-md-4"><p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2024/08/hhs-proposes-expansion-of-health-data-technology-and-interoperability-rule-advisory-8-15-2024.pdf" target="_blank" title="Download the Regulatory Advisory: HHS Proposes Expansion of Health Data, Technology and Interoperability Rule PDF."><img src="/sites/default/files/2024-08/cover-hhs-proposes-expansion-of-health-data-technology-and-interoperability-rule-advisory-8-15-2024-667px.png" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Regulatory Advisory:HHS Proposes Expansion of Health Data, Technology and Interoperability Rule cover." width="NaN" height="NaN"></a></p></div></div></div> Thu, 15 Aug 2024 08:25:08 -0500 Community Health Data /node/694241 <p>Checklist to help researchers move towards representative and equitable inclusion in clinical research.</p> Tue, 09 Jul 2024 11:42:58 -0500 Community Health Data /news/headline/2024-05-03-achi-releases-new-cha-toolkit-resources <p>AHA’s Community Health Improvement network has added new <a href="https://www.healthycommunities.org/resources/toolkit/files/resources">resources</a> to its Community Health Assessment Toolkit, including four new supplements focusing on how to involve specific populations in the CHA process: older adults, caregivers, people with disabilities; and refugee, immigrant and migrant communities. In addition, eight new case studies highlight how health care organizations and community partners have used tactics and strategies from the toolkit to address priority health needs in their communities. </p> Fri, 03 May 2024 15:18:04 -0500 Community Health Data /center/population-health-management/bridging-the-sectors Fri, 12 Apr 2024 10:00:00 -0500 Community Health Data /news/headline/2024-04-11-cdc-releases-updated-strategy-detect-and-monitor-public-health-threats <p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention April 11 <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0411-CDC-data-modernization.html">updated</a> its strategy to improve data exchange with health care organizations and other public health authorities to better detect and monitor public health threats. Among other priorities for 2024-2025, the strategy calls for using the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s <a href="https://www.healthit.gov/topic/interoperability/policy/trusted-exchange-framework-and-common-agreement-tefca">Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement</a> to enable faster sharing of data between health care and public health; expanding core data sources to detect and monitor threats, including wastewater, hospitalization and hospital bed capacity; and prioritizing data to address health disparities and promote health equity.</p> Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:01:00 -0500 Community Health Data /news/headline/2024-01-12-blog-data-drive-ifdhes-discussions-health-equity-2024 <p>An overarching approach to the coming year can be summed up as “letting the data speak and guide us,” <a href="https://ifdhe.aha.org/news/blog/2024-01-12-2024-data-will-drive-ifdhes-discussions-health-equity">writes</a> Joy Lewis, AHA’s senior vice president for health equity strategies and executive director of the organization’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity. She previews upcoming initiatives and activities that will aid hospitals’ efforts to collect and use the data needed to eliminate health disparities and advance equity, diversity and inclusion.</p> Fri, 12 Jan 2024 15:03:00 -0600 Community Health Data /news/headline/2023-11-02-hospital-associations-and-hospitals-file-lawsuit-challenging-federal-rule-ties-providers-hands-efforts <p>The AHA, joined by the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Health Resources, and United Regional Health Care System, Nov. 2 <a href="/legal-documents/2023-11-02-case-complaint-aha-tha-thr-united-health-care-system-v-rainer">sued </a>the federal government to bar enforcement of an unlawful, harmful and counterproductive rule that has upended hospitals’ and health systems’ ability to share health care information with the communities they serve, analyze their own websites to enhance accessibility, and improve public health. <br />  <br /> “The Department of Health and Human Services’ new rule restricting the use of critical third-party technologies has real-world impacts on the public, who are now unable to access vital health information,” <a href="/press-releases/2023-11-02-hospital-associations-and-hospitals-file-lawsuit-challenging-federal-rule-ties-providers-hands-their">said</a> AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “In fact, these technologies are so essential that federal agencies themselves still use many of the same tools on their own webpages, including Medicare.gov, Tricare.mil, Health.mil, and various Veterans Health Administration sites. We cannot understand why HHS created this ‘rule for thee but not for me.’”  <br /> <br /> Today’s lawsuit challenges a “Bulletin” issued by HHS' Office for Civil Rights. The December 2022 “Bulletin” restricts hospitals from using standard third-party web technologies that capture IP addresses on portions of hospitals’ public-facing webpages that address health conditions or health care providers. For example, under HHS’ new rule, if someone visited a hospital website on behalf of her elderly neighbor to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease, a hospital’s use of any third-party technology that captures an IP address from that visit would expose that hospital to federal enforcement actions and significant civil penalties.  <br />   <br /> “Simply put, OCR’s new rule harms the very people it purports to protect,” Pollack said. “The federal government’s repeated threats to enforce this unlawful rule tie hospitals’ hands as trusted messengers of reliable health care information.”   <br />   <br /> Visit AHA’s <a href="/legal-documents/2023-11-02-lawsuit-challenges-federal-rule-ties-providers-hands-efforts-reach-their-communities">webpage</a> for additional information, including a brief explainer of the case. </p> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 16:01:00 -0500 Community Health Data /news/headline/2023-09-22-new-infographic-highlights-hospitals-valuable-role-communities <p>The AHA Sept. 22 released a new <a href="/infographics/2023-09-22-hospitals-are-cornerstones-their-communities-2021-numbers-infographic" target="_blank">infographic</a> highlighting many ways hospitals and health systems advance health and support their communities. Among other topics, the infographic includes data on the number of patients treated in an emergency department, number of babies delivered and number of surgeries performed. In addition the infographic says 6.3 million people were directly employed by hospitals in the U.S. in 2021 and 23.4 million jobs were supported by hospitals. Hospitals also purchased $1.2 trillion in goods and services from other businesses and supported $4.1 trillion in economic activity.</p> Fri, 22 Sep 2023 15:22:58 -0500 Community Health Data /news/headline/2022-12-02-hrsa-releases-data-maternity-care-health-professional-shortage-areas <p>The Health Resources and Services Administration has released <a href="https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area">Maternity Care Target Area weighted scores </a>for Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas experiencing a shortage of maternity health care professionals. The weighted scores will be summed to develop a composite MCTA score ranging from zero to 25, with 25 indicating the greatest need for maternity care health professionals in the MCTA. The interactive databank includes information on the supply of primary care, dental and mental health providers down to the county level. </p> Fri, 02 Dec 2022 15:03:00 -0600 Community Health Data