ONC Releases Data Briefs on Health IT Use and Interoperability among Office-based Physicians

ONC released a data brief analyzing individuals’ use of and access to their electronic health records (EHRs) between 2017-2018. Patients' rates of being offered access to online health records remained the same (52% in 2017, 51% in 2018). Rates of patient EHR use varied based on their socio-demographic status, health status, and ability to access the internet.
 
See the full data brief on Health IT use here.
 
ONC also released a data brief studying interoperability among office-based physicians between 2015 and 2017. Part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) requires the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to measure the extent of use of EHRs. They focused on four domains of interoperability: sending, receiving, finding, and integrating health information received from outside sources. Finding data from outside sources increased by 50% between 2015 and 2017, while the other domains of interoperability remained unchanged. Physicians using certified EHRs in value-based health care systems had higher rates of participation in all four domains of interoperability compared to those who did not.
 
See the full data brief on interoperability among office-based physicians here.