Health care data-sharing rules touch off intense lobbying fight

The looming release of data-sharing rules for health care have sparked an intense lobbying fight, with hospitals, digital health firms and patient access groups joining a battle that pits the promise of care coordination and streamlined research against nightmares over compliance and privacy.

On Tuesday, former HHS Secretary and Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson jumped into the fray with an op-ed denouncing the rules on behalf of a hometown company, health records giant Epic, which is based outside Madison.