Challenges Meeting 21st Century Cures Act Patient Identity Interoperability and Information Blocking Rules.

OBJECTIVE

Gather insights into healthcare organization (HCO) preparedness for new 21st Century Cures Act information blocking disincentives and challenges in achieving greater accuracy /interoperability of patient identity/data.

METHODS

Survey of 197 U.S. healthcare executives (54.7% response rate), included 46 health systems (23.4%), 141 hospitals (71.6%), and 10 payer organizations (5.1%), evaluated organizational gaps in patient identity data management/interoperability and preparation for information deblocking.

RESULTS

Healthcare organizations are unprepared to meet information deblocking requirements and manage increased data influx/exchange. Although 61% have invested in meeting requirements, only 36% have capabilities in place. Majorities reported inability to comply with information blocking rules (59%), communicate electronic patient activity notifications to other organizations (56%), or share/receive patient-level information with patients and other HCOs (57%). Across 12 critical functionalities, 57% lacked key capabilities; 97% reported inadequate patient data/identity management/interoperability as data volume expands, adversely affecting care quality/safety and outcomes; and 57% envision patient data-matching errors precipitating a healthcare crisis in 5-10 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Many HCOs are unprepared to meet new Cures Act information blocking requirements and resultant increase of internal/external patient data volumes. Next generation master data management, enterprise master patient index, and referential matching technologies can improve HCO patient identity and data management, and information interoperability.