HHS Considers Safe AI Use of Clinical Data
As AI tools become more widely used in health care, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is looking to support ongoing AI innovations while establishing guardrails for safe and appropriate AI use of sensitive clinical data, which is largely underutilized to date but holds great potential to improve diagnostics, reduce medical errors, and more. Future considerations for the forthcoming HHS strategic AI plan include data quality to prevent bias and an ethical foundation to support trust in AI and health care. (Nextgov/FCW, 10/8)
New York Social Care Networks Launch HRSN Data Exchange Efforts
Under New York’s Medicaid 1115 Waiver to address health-related social needs (HRSNs), HIEs are partnering with regional social care networks (SCNs) to share HRSN data between SCNs and with a statewide data lake. HealtheConnections, an HIE active in 26 counties across New York, recently completed testing with three SCNs to begin making HRSN data screening available in their platform so care providers may access more comprehensive patient data in a single system. (Healthcare Innovation, 10/1)
ASTP/ONC Discuss API Barriers to Information Blocking
While progress has been made to facilitate seamless data exchange, there remains concerns around information blocking behaviors in accessible application programming interfaces (APIs) and electronic health record (EHR) technology. Dr. Micky Tripathi, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ASTP/ONC) shares reported information blocking experiences from API users, warns of information blocking consequences and enforcement, and weighs in on plans to strengthen oversight and engagement with Certified API Developers along with improvements in educational resources and feedback channels. (ASTP/ONC, 10/8)
Minnesota Advances Public Health Through Aggregate EHR Data
Initially formed for COVID-19 response, the Minnesota EHR Consortium achieved success with an emphasis on data privacy by analyzing data within health systems and reporting summary information to a central site for aggregation. Their recent data-driven Health Trends Across Communities (HTAC-MN) project leverages this foundation and shared data collection interests among health systems and public health agencies to create a statewide dashboard of various health conditions to support health needs assessments and inform policies and programs. (Healthcare Innovation, 10/14)
