Politico interviewed HIA’s Brett Meeks about ONC’s Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability (HTI-2) proposed rule
Brett Meeks, executive director of the Health Innovation Alliance, says the ONC’s proposed rule is a big expansion. “For the last 15 years of that statute being on the books, they’ve only done [electronic health records]. So this is a big change,” he said.
While ONC certifications are voluntary, Meeks thinks that language in the proposed rule indicates that other agencies might in the future require companies to get certified to receive federal dollars, whether through Medicare, the CDC, or HHS.
“At that point, they become less voluntary and more mandatory,” he said. Meeks also pointed to a section ONC included on severability, saying it indicated that the agency thought someone might sue to strike down individual provisions of the rule. According to the section, an entire rule wouldn’t be affected if any of its provisions were to be struck down.