Sleep deprivation and deep thoughts
Maybe it’s the new dad sleep deprivation, but as I was rocking our newest addition to the Moxe family back to sleep in the middle of the night (see below), I got to thinking about the AHIMA dHealth™ program and Moxe’s decision to invest as a partner in the program.
If you haven’t heard, the AHIMA dHealth™ Assessment is a tool that evaluates a digital health product’s protection of patient identity and data.
Any digital health company can apply to have their product assessed by the experts at AHIMA to determine if it meets stringent patient identity and data protection standards that are based on standards required by ONC, HHS, CCMS, CCPA, and HIPAA.
If a digital health product meets the requirements, determined by AHIMA privacy experts, it will earn AHIMA dHealth™ Approved status and an opportunity to show the market they understand their role in protecting patient privacy and security. Organizations must be evaluated on an annual basis to keep their approved status, so patients and caregivers can rest assured that the service they are using meets the latest privacy standards and good practices.
As a new parent, I’ve discovered there are countless voices and organizations in the “how to raise a healthy, well-adjusted kid” space. I’ll read one parenting book, only to have its advice contradicted by another. It can be overwhelming to determine what advice is based on research and supported by experts vs. what is based on one well-intentioned parent’s personal experience with their child. Our pediatrician recommended healthychildren.org—the American Academy of Pediatrics’ parenting website—as a great resource.
What’s that got to do with dHealth™? Well, as we’re now a few months past the info blocking compliance deadline, many provider organizations are dealing with a similar challenge as I am as a new parent: How to decide who to trust with something extremely important and fragile—their patient’s identity and personal health information.
Moxe decided to invest in the AHIMA dHealth™ program—our technology powers the dHealth™ platform—because we see it as a way to help organizations and their patients determine who they can trust in the digital health space.
With the go-live of the Cure’s Act requirements, providers must now grant access to digital applications, who are not governed by HIPAA or any other information privacy rules, through an API to personal health information that resides in the EHR.
With limited exceptions, they must grant that access quickly, leaving little time for HIM professionals to conduct thorough assessments of every digital health application and product that requests information.
And yet, the risks of not conducting a thorough assessment of every digital health product that requests information are significant. As you know, anywhere patient identity and data are at-risk, so are organizational reputation, patient trust, and satisfaction.
Moxe sees the AHIMA dHealth™ program as a way for digital health companies to demonstrate their protection of patient health information and for healthcare stakeholders to discover which digital health products meet industry data protection standards.
While the dHealth™ program gains traction amongst digital health companies, I encourage you to visit the site and register to view the AHIMA dHealth™ directory so you can see which applications have received the dHealth™ Approved seal.
You can also urge digital health product developers to apply for the dHealth™ seal of approval to demonstrate their protection of patient health information. When digital health companies apply for the dHealth™ Approved designation, you can lean on the industry’s leading HIM experts at AHIMA to assess whether a product meets their stringent patient identity and data protection requirements and reduce the burden on your HIM staff.
Moxe stands with you as an innovator seeking to use technology to improve healthcare.
As the digital health landscape expands and evolves, it’s more important now than ever before for digital health companies to differentiate themselves to consumers.
I see the dHealth™ program as one important way you can do just that. By completing the dHealth™ Assessment and gaining the dHealth™ Approved seal, you demonstrate commitment to the protection of patient data and position yourself to healthcare organizations as a trusted partner.
If you are a digital health product developer and want to learn more about the AHIMA dHealth™ Assessment and approval process, I encourage you to get in touch with one of the program team members.