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President Trump’s top health care aides on Monday said they will finalize federal rules requiring health providers and insurers to make health records available to patients in an easily accessible electronic format, a policy shift aimed at fueling broader efforts to use patient data to develop new software tools and services. In a briefing with reporters, Trump’s aides essentially doubled-down on policies they first announced last March, saying they will press forward with the rules despite warnings from electronic health record companies and some hospitals that they could compromise the privacy of patient information. (Ross, 3/9)

After a year of intense lobbying, the Trump administration on Monday finalized federal rules to give patients easier electronic access to their medical records and fuel a freer exchange of health data to improve their care. The president’s top aides characterized the implementation of the rules as a watershed moment in American health care, unlocking health information that is now inaccessible to patients and technology companies seeking to use it to develop digital products and services. (Ross, 3/9)

By standardizing the way data must be shared and mandating that individuals have digital access to their own health records, the regulations are widely expected to benefit a mushrooming industry surrounding health data. The records hold a wealth of intimate information—the history of patients’ illnesses, prescriptions, laboratory results and sometimes genetics—and are seen as increasingly valuable to companies that can crunch vast databases to develop health-care services. Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp., which are making inroads in health care, have generally backed the main rule, as have some consumer groups. Consumers often face barriers to getting personal medical information to share between doctors or feed to smartphone apps and web portals that provide health services. (Wilde Mathews and Evans, 3/9)

With coronavirus topping Americans’ concerns, senior Trump administration officials tried to switch subjects Monday by announcing final rules aimed at delivering on the unfulfilled promise of electronic health records. It did not go smoothly as reporters veered back to the global outbreak increasingly affecting U.S. communities. “The notion that we can’t do our day jobs and work on this very serious issue (coronavirus) is absurd,” said a frustrated Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar after one reporter noted that financial markets had opened sharply lower over fears of global economic damage from the outbreak. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/9)

Kaiser Health News: New Federal Rules Will Let Patients Put Medical Records On Smartphones

Federal officials on Monday released groundbreaking rules that will let patients download their electronic health records and other health care data onto their smartphones. “Patients should have control of their records, period. Now that’s becoming a reality,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. “These rules are the start of a new chapter in how patients experience American health care.” Officials said the rules likely will give patients a greater say in health care decisions and put an end to a long-standing practice in which some doctors and hospitals resist handing complete medical files over to patients upon demand. (Schulte and Fry, 3/9)

Two HHS agencies on Monday unveiled final versions of companion interoperability and information-blocking proposals they proposed last year. The long-awaited rules from the CMS and HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology are designed to revamp how providers, insurers and patients exchange health data. (Cohen and Brady, 3/9)

For startup CEO Jeff Fallon, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's annual health information and technology conference isn't just another trade show. It's "our Super Bowl," he said. The event, which was canceled last week in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, typically brings together more than 40,000 attendees from the healthcare and technology industries. That's made it a popular arena for companies to launch new products, providing a central space to pitch their capabilities to thousands of possible customers and compete for their attention side-by-side their biggest competitors. (Cohen, 3/9)