Last year, medical records opened up to patients. This year, they’re opening up to the nation.
Before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, electronic health care record vendors will have to provide tools to easily pull big batches of patient data from their systems. Just as information blocking rules gave individual patients the ability to access their medical records, this next round of federal rules gives a framework for sharing insights — within a health system, or with trusted partners — about groups of patients that reflect different populations.