Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said the department is committed to an open, connected health system, and is focusing on three areas to bring that about: data blocking, interoperability and security.

“We all want a health system where information flows seamlessly and securely when and where you need it most,” Sylvia Mathews Burwell said last week at the American College of Physicians. “When you have all the information you need, you can see the whole health picture.”

To enable that, HHS is trying to change the culture “so doctors and hospitals understand that patients have a right to their records, data blocking is not tolerated, and providers share data with others caring for their patients,” Burwell said.

Eliminating data blocking is also a step toward enabling more information interoperability wherein “health IT systems are speaking the same language through common standards so they can communicate with one another,” Burwell said, noting that in the last six years the industry has tripled its adoption of electronic health records but considerable work remains.

And as patient and medical data flows more effectively, Burwell said HHS is also girding to protect it via rules and regulations designed with the idea that interoperability is vital to market success in mind.

“Whether it’s helping doctors make more informed decisions, giving people the tools to be active partners in their own health, or advancing our understanding of quality, better use of data moves our whole system forward,” Burwell said at the ACP. “That’s why it is so important that hospitals and physicians stand up against data blocking.”

HHS has been working on interoperability and data blocking for some time now and in early March most electronic health records vendors signed a pledge to not block data and also support standardized APIs to make information sharing easier, a move Burwell said at HIMSS16 was “a critical first step.” 

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