OIG Fears Providers Hazy On HIE Security Risks

By Greg Bengel, contributing writer

As MU incentive payments top $15.5 billion and HIE use jumps 41 percent, the OIG points to numerous security risks yet to be addressed

A look at Meaningful Use (MU) incentive payments and HIE use among healthcare providers reveals that more and more providers are getting on board. However, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) fears that with all the data crossing hands, providers are becoming hazy on security risks.

FierceEMR reports that participation in the MU incentive program is continuing to grow with payments topping more than $15.5 billion to 309,802 providers since 2011. The article also reports that 3,661 Medicare eligible professionals, 2,240 Medicaid eligible professionals, and 52 hospitals registered in the MU incentive program in June of 2013 alone. This ups the total number of active registrations to 405,437 providers. The information in the FierceEMR article comes from the latest CMS statistics.

An article from Health Leaders Media supports the FierceEMR article. According to the article, from 2008 to 2012 hospital HIE use jumped 41 percent. This information comes from federal government study published in Health Affairs.  In 2012, 6 of every 10 hospitals routinely exchanged electronic data with providers and health systems.

The article quotes Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, as feeling we are only about to see more growth. “We know that the exchange of health information is integral to the ongoing efforts to transform the nation's health care system and we will continue to see that grow as more hospitals and other providers adopt and use health IT to improve patient health and care," he said. "Our new research is crystal clear: health information exchange is happening and it is growing. But we still have a long road ahead toward universal interoperability.”