USCDI Embraces Health Equity--But How Quickly Will HealthTech Adopt?

The Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy is leaning in to both #interoperability and #healthequity. However, while all payers and providers are moving toward standards-based implementation, escaping legacy technologies continues to be a challenge.

This week, the definitive model for #healthcare interoperability, the "United States Core for Interoperability" (USCDI) released version 4 of its model. You can see the specification here. USCDI was created in May, 2020 as part of the 21st Century Cures Act and is continually updated to reflect the needs for continued sharing of key medical information to support #healthit developers, #healthinsurance and #healthtech. While Version 3 included key #socialdeterminantsofhealth elements, the #SDOH assessment is now combined with the much broader "Health Status Assessment" category. This should facilitate a more "360 degree" view of the member, considering SDOH with other key risk factors like #substanceabuse #smoking, and #mentalhealth concerns.

However, many provider and payer systems are saddled with legacy technologies and mapping these new capabilities to support the upcoming regulations has proved challenging. Recently, the Electronic Health Record Association (an industry group supporting EHR development and support) asked for additional time to implement transition from USCDI v1 to v3 in the recently proposed Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability (HTI-1) rule.

While we strongly support ONC’s efforts to advance USCDI in general, the proposed Jan. 1, 2025, development and implementation timeframe between the final rule and USCDI v1 expiration is far too short. (Read the full context here )

The #healthtech sector is slowly lurching toward full #interoperability, similar to what #fintech did in the 1980s and 90's; however, there is still a long way ahead to fully realize its potential..