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The policy states that the AMA:Continue to advocate for the widespread adoption of telehealth services in the practice of medicine for physicians and physician-led teams after the pandemic;Advocate that the federal and state governments and agencies and the payer industry adopt clear and uniform laws, rules, regulations, and policies relating to telehealth services that provide equitable coverage that allows patients to access telehealth services wherever they are located (and) provide for the use of accessible devices and technologies, with appropriate privacy and security protections, for connecting physicians and patients;Advocate for equitable access to telehealth services, especially for at-risk and under-resourced patient populations and communities, including but not limited to supporting increased funding and planning for telehealth infrastructure such as broadband and internet-connected devices for both physician practices and patients; andSupport the use of telehealth to reduce health disparities and promote access to health care.

NEW TECHNOLOGY | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020Positioning patient portals for successRecent growth in use of patient portals has been spurred by increases in virtual visits due to COVID-19. But are the systems designed for patients and doctors, or for smoother administrative and billing functions?By Yael L. MaxwellThere’s no doubt patient portals can provide a wealth of information. From the patient’s point of view, portals can do a lot, said Tom Delbanco, MD, MACP, the John F. Keane & Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. They can tell you what your laboratory results were. They can show you what medications you’re on. They can help you ask for refills. Most of them will support secure emails between you and your providers, either directly with your doctors or to your practices. And increasingly, they let you review your clinicians’ notes, perhaps the most important part of your medical record.

Prepared by: Clinovations Government + Health for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

As weve covered before, this is a big shift for many healthcare organizations to immediately share health information with patients. Not only is this a lift technically, but its probably a bigger lift culturally for many healthcare organizations.

Patients filed class-action complaints against the Mayo Clinic this past week. They areaccusing the system of violating the Minnesota Health Records Act. Mayo Clinic said in a news release in October that a former employee had inappropriately accessed the health records of more than 1,600 patients. Now, multiple patients are seeking to have a class-action case declared against the clinic.According to a complaint filed last week in Olmsted County District Court, Mayo Clinic told plaintiff Olga Ryabchuk that the potentially accessible data included her name, demographic information, birth date, medical record number and clinical notes.

When you have access to a comprehensive history, people are much more likely to find errors in their data, said Pollak, who is the co-founder and chief architect at the Commons Project, which in 2019 built CommonHealth to let Android users access their patient portals on mobile devices.There are scholarly papers showing that people have better patient engagement portability between providers, he pointed out. Certainly, we’re at a time when you, in spite of the health information exchange and some of the other platforms, it’s still sadly possible to show up somewhere and not have your health data with you.

Healthcare stakeholders will have a bit of extra time to get their ducks in a row for the information blocking rules and IT certification requirements outlined in the 21st Century Cures Act.The original due date was coming soon: next Monday, November 2.The info blocking applicability date is now April 5, 2021 while new requirements around standardized API functionality havebeen pushed out to New Year’s Eve 2022.

Studies have shown that patients who read their notes understand more about their health, take their medications as prescribed more often and feel more in control of their care.

The big news in the world of Health IT today is ONCs announcement of the Cures Act Final rule which includes some delays to the information blocking and health IT certification requirements.

The Office for Civil Rights is here to help you understand your civil rights and right to the privacy of your health information in a variety of languages.