Epic wrote to HHS asking for changes to a proposed interoperability rule.
Here are five things to know:
1. ONC published the proposed Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability rule Aug. 5 to "advance interoperability, improve transparency, and support the access, exchange, and use of electronic health information."
2. Several organizations have provided written comments, including the American Hospital Association, which also expressed opposition to parts of the rule. In an Oct. 4 letter, Epic lobbyist Ladd Wiley pointed out revisions favored by the EHR vendor.
3. Epic supports the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement interoperability network and wants ONC to "codify it in regulation," Mr. Wiley wrote. "To encourage participation," ONC "should take a step further and adjust the TEFCA Manner Exception to apply when a fulfiller makes information available through the framework, regardless of whether the requestor participates in TEFCA."
4. ONC should also not finalize its proposal of what constitutes "interference" under information-blocking regulations as it creates "complexity and confusion" and is "outside the boundaries" of the 21st Century Cures Act, he wrote.
5. Epic also asked for software-related revisions to the proposal's certification program and for certification timeline changes because of the "significant financial and staffing challenges facing healthcare providers," he wrote.