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Update: HIMSS has published a HIMSS Cancellation FAQ Were sorry to report that the HIMSS 2020 annual conference in Orlando has been cancelled. Heres the email that was sent out by HI

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From what I see in the market, we need to rise to the occasion to assure consumers/patients that their privacy will be respected or we wont realize the full value of digital health as it relates to behavior change. What do you think it will take? A digital health version of the Hippocratic Oath? Is data privacy a potential competitive advantage in building brand and an organizations reputation? How do we achieve transparency about how personal health data is collected and used? Do we put the ball in the consumers court, allowing consumers to either opt in or opt out to sharing their data?

Patients want and deserve access to their medical records. The argument that patients will not understand or will misinterpret the information in their records is no longer an acceptable excuse for preventing access. In fact, the government is about to set rules that may penalize healthcare organizations and software companies that block access to medical information (see info blocking).

Patients want access to their records, and they deserve it.

This isnt just a conceptual challenge, Azar said Tuesday during his keynote address at AcademyHealths Health Datapalooza.It can also be a source of tremendous frustration for patients themselvesno matter how well-versed these patients may be in health policy, he said.

The Cures Act prohibits information blocking as defined by Congress in the act and authorizes the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to identify by regulation reasonable and necessary activities that do not constitute information blocking.

In its 2016 guidance, the OCR set a $ 6.50 limit (inclusive of all labor, supplies, and postage) for health care providers that do not want to go through the process of calculating actual or average allowable costs for requests for electronic copies of PHI maintained electronically.The federal requirement to recover actual costs, or a flat fee of $6.50, supersedes state laws that allowed providers to charge for medical record searches and per-page fees. Maine caps the cost at $ 250 for a medical record, far above the federal $ 6.50 flat fee.

Certainly, Googles demo asserts that they can more effectively access and display data across multiple organizations which we all know would be great. However, it doesnt share a compelling case for how theyve really solved the healthcare interoperability problem. Remember that the problem is not a technical one, but a business one. Does a slicker interface do anything to solve the business problem here? Not even close.

If I hear yet one more stakeholder say how they have to protect the patient/consumers privacy as a way to prevent transparency, prevent data flows I think Ill blow a gasket. Please just stop.