Rucker: New rules will promote patient access to health data

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Dr. Don Rucker told lawmakers on Tuesday that patients, providers and payers will soon be able to access health data easier thanks to his agency’s work.

But Rucker didn’t provide details on how these open application programming interfaces will come to fruition, since the rules addressing those APIs—including a rule on patient access and another on information-blocking—are still forthcoming.

Several members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee asked Rucker when the information-blocking rule, which will define exceptions to the prohibition on information-blocking, will come out. The Office of the National Coordinator has already written the rule, and it is currently with the Office of Management and Budget—a point Rucker clarified...