DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A pilot demonstration, conducted in collaboration with the Data Segmentation for Privacy (DS4P) effort of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), has successfully demonstrated patient control over release of Protected Health Information (PHI) during the exchange of electronic health records (EHRs). Pilot participants include the Health Information Technology (Health IT) Program at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Jericho Systems Corporation, and Conemaugh Health System.
“The successful completion of our interoperability test is the result of six months of hard work by many volunteers who joined weekly DS4P meetings,” said David Staggs, CTO of Jericho Systems. “We have demonstrated how externalized patient consent directives can be automatically fetched and applied as the document custodian decides whether to release a requested record. Patients can review the decisions electronically, providing transparency in the document release process and confidence that records are being released appropriately.”
The pilot was specifically designed to simulate various scenarios in which electronic medical records are requested and exchanged using an Internet specification called the eHealth Exchange (formerly known as the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) Exchange). A centralized repository stores the patient’s consent directive (PCD) and enables granular privacy control by the healthcare consumer over his or her electronic medical record (EMR). The simulated patient is also informed about who is requesting their medical information. Jericho Systems, with support from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s (USAMRMC) Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), provides EnterSpace Exchange software to authorize requests and secure exchange of data among pilot participants.
“Participation in a national pilot program exemplifies the type of learning experiences that are invaluable for our students,” said Dr. Leanne Field, director of UT Austin’s Health IT program. “Conducting applied research in collaborative environments, such as demonstrating patient control over shared health care information, provides our graduates with experience and skills that set them apart in the competitive health IT industry.”
The pilot explored 13 electronic exchange scenarios and eight types of data transactions. To test these scenarios, pilot participants performed various roles. Jericho Systems served as primary custodian of the patient’s record and provided access to the Patient Consent Directive (PCD) repository. The University of Texas at Austin HIT Program simulated the role of a research university that requests the patient’s record and subsequently acts as the secondary custodian of the information. Conemaugh played the role of a marketing network that becomes the second requestor. Conemaugh participation is part of the Military Interoperable Digital Hospital Testbed (MIDHT) with assistance from Northrop Grumman Information Systems, Inc. under Contract No. W81XWH-10-2-0180.
“Jericho Systems is helping transform the nation’s health IT system,” said Brynn Mow, CEO of Jericho Systems. “Our EnterSpace Exchange supports transparency while protecting medical information and patient privacy.”
About Jericho Systems Corporation
Dallas-based Jericho Systems Corporation provides enterprise-scalable access control, decisioning, and privilege management solutions, with its largest customers representing the healthcare, Department of Defense, intelligence, and homeland security communities. Jericho specializes in fine-grained, policy-based data filtering technology that supports dynamic, attribute-based access control (ABAC). Jericho’s EnterSpace Exchange PatientPortal™ was recognized as a “Best Privacy Technology of 2012” at the Second International Summit on the Future of Health Privacy.
EnterSpace Technology® is covered by United States patents 7,779,247, 7,792,828, 8,060,504, 8,438,159, and 8,560,836. For more information or to arrange a product demonstration, please call 972-231-2000, email info@jerichosystems.com, or visit www.jerichosystems.com.
This work is supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s (USAMRMC) Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), under Grant No. W81XWH-13-C-0116.
About The University of Texas at Austin Health IT Program
The Health IT Program at The University of Texas at Austin is comprised of a unique combination of state-of-the-art facilities and focused educational programs including the nine-week certificate program designed to “fast track” university graduates into the rapidly evolving field of health IT.
The facilities include a health IT learning center where students develop hands-on skills with six electronic health record (EHR) software systems, and an advanced telemedicine system. The recently launched HIE laboratory, funded by the Longhorn Innovation Fund for Technology, is a collaboration between the university’s Health IT program and two major corporate HIE software vendors, Information Corporation of America (ICA) and Orion Health, together with two leading Electronic Health Record (EHR) software companies, eClinicalWorks and e-MDs. This “first in the nation” HIE laboratory not only allows students to engage with the latest HIE technologies, but also has the potential to serve as a vender-neutral test site for the evaluation of emerging HIE standards, and as a center for applied research to study the development and implementation of “best practices” for state and nationwide health information exchange.
The Health IT certificate program includes a comprehensive curriculum of healthcare policy, economics, technology, data systems and business practices and gives students an opportunity to carry out applied research projects. The program’s curriculum was designed to meet the skills and workforce training requirements identified by major health IT industry and healthcare sponsors of the certificate program.
For more information on The University of Texas at Austin Health IT Program, please go to: http://healthit.cns.utexas.edu/.
