The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a new proposed rule earlier this month outlining new standards and requirements around acquisition of health information technology.

As described in the proposal, which was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 9, the aim is to amend the existing Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation, or HHSAR, to require procurement of health IT) that "meets standards and implementation specifications (standards) adopted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the following parts: Acquisition of Information Technology and Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses."

As explained by Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Micky Tripathi (whose new job title comes after a departmental reorganization this past July) in a recent blog post, the move is a key part of the HHS Health IT Alignment Policy announced by the Biden Administration in 2022.

The goal of the move – done in tandem with HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary of Financial Resources – is to "establish and oversee a consistent HHS-wide approach to ensure that health IT requirements in grants, cooperative agreements, contracts and policy and regulatory actions align with HHS-adopted data standards," said Tripathi.

"By aligning on standards that enable interoperability," he explained, "HHS is ensuring that federal investments do not contribute to the proliferation of proprietary modes of exchange and data silos that inhibit access, exchange, and use of data.

"Promoting interoperability through HHS investments can lead to more connected care for patients," he added, "as well as more seamless data exchange across other facets of the health care landscape, such as public health and research activities."

In the week-plus since the proposed rule was published, several technology vendors have offered their perspective on the HHS alignment and what it might mean for the industry. Healthcare IT News was sent several reactions from these companies' C-suite leaders, and here's what they had to say. 

Kim Perry, chief growth officer at emtelligent, which develops deep learning technology to gain analytics insights from structured text, said the proposed rule "marks a significant leap forward in realizing the full value of our nation's healthcare data.

"By mandating standardized health IT across all systems interacting with HHS, this initiative not only enhances interoperability and reduces inefficiencies, but also paves the way for advanced technologies like NLP and LLMs to unlock the full potential of this data at scale," she added. "This not only accelerates and improves patient care but also paves the way for groundbreaking discoveries in clinical research, ultimately transforming the healthcare landscape and driving innovation in treatment and diagnosis."

Raj Ronanki, CEO, Lyric, which works to further the use of AI to simplify care delivery, agreed that "it’s encouraging to see that HHS is taking a proactive approach to ensuring the protection of data and systems so that everyone’s interests are safeguarded. As healthcare technology partners, we must embrace an in-depth understanding of embedding responsibility, security, and balancing the profound impacts of AI with ethical governance.

"As artificial intelligence and data security become increasingly integral to healthcare," he added, "the urgency to integrate ethical governance cannot be overstated."

Meanwhile, George Pappas, CEO of healthcare security firm Intraprise Health, said he had concerns – "as a citizen, a patient and a stakeholder in healthcare" – that a new mandate from HHS "could stifle the innovation we need to tackle legacy costs."

As he explained, "AI programming models are rapidly evolving and forcing vendors to conform to rigid standards may hinder the potential of AI to enhance interoperability. Moreover, it could place unnecessary constraints on the cybersecurity industry, where flexibility is critical in adapting to emerging threats and protecting patient data more effectively."

But Kevin Heineman, CISO of Lyric, which develops AI tools for health plans, sees benefits for security and information exchange in the proposed IT procurement rule.

"Interoperability in the healthcare industry is crucial, but it causes complexities that can lead to exploitation by people with malicious intent," he said. "The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Financial Resources’ proposal to simplify how data is exchanged between healthcare organizations is a very positive step to reducing data and system security risk – ultimately helping to make our healthcare ecosystem more secure."

Mike Miliard is executive editor of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.