New Resource Provides Guidance on Data Sharing

Markle Connecting for Health has issued a collection of resources designed to support the secure exchange of health information.

The Markle Connecting for Health Common Framework Policies in Practice for Health Information Sharing — or Polices in Practice — address current critical implementation issues for electronic health data sharing, including informed individual consent, governance, individual access, and procurement.

Developed by leaders with expertise in health information sharing, technology, privacy, and consumer engagement, Policies in Practice was developed “to address some of the key issues and concerns expressed by those implementing health information sharing efforts at the local, state and regional levels,” according to Markle President Zoë Baird Budinger. It is a supplement to the 2006 Markle Common Framework, a set of guides that offers a framework to support trusted health information sharing.

The Policies in Practice address the following areas:

• Key Laws and Regulations: Changes Relevant to the Markle Common Framework
• Consent: Implementing the Individual Participation and Control Principle
• Individual Access: Connecting Patients to Their Health Information
• Governance of Health Information Sharing Efforts: Achieving Trust and Interoperability with Meaningful Consumer Participation
• Policy Aware Procurement Strategies and Practices: Asking the Right Questions and Reaching the Right Answers

“The foundational aspects of the Markle Common Framework were instrumental to our regional health information exchange formation and continue to be valuable,” said Ted Kremer, executive director of the Rochester RHIO, and committee member involved in the development process. “We and others realized it would be helpful to build on the Markle Common Framework and develop additional resources that apply directly to today’s environment.”

Markle Connecting for Health is a public-private collaborative whose goal is to improve overall patient health and advance the quality of healthcare in the United States through innovations in information technology.