AHIC AHIC Consumer Health Informatics and Patient Engagement 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal initiative established the foundation for patient access to their own electronic health data in the US?
- The Blue Button Initiative (Correct answer)
- MACRA Final Rule
- The Stark Law Amendment
- HITECH Meaningful Use Stage 3
Correct answer: The Blue Button Initiative
The Blue Button Initiative, launched by the VA and adopted broadly, enables patients to download and share their own health records electronically.
Question 2: A patient portal feature that allows patients to schedule appointments, request refills, and message providers primarily supports which informatics goal?
- Clinical decision support
- Patient engagement and self-management (Correct answer)
- Revenue cycle optimization
- Population health surveillance
Correct answer: Patient engagement and self-management
Patient portals with transactional features are designed to increase patient engagement and support active participation in self-management of health.
Question 3: Under the 21st Century Cures Act, which rule specifically prohibits healthcare entities from blocking patients' access to their electronic health information?
- The Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule
- The Information Blocking Rule (ONC) (Correct answer)
- The Anti-Kickback Statute
- The HIPAA Omnibus Rule
Correct answer: The Information Blocking Rule (ONC)
The ONC Information Blocking Rule, enacted under the 21st Century Cures Act, prohibits practices that unreasonably interfere with patient access to EHI.
Question 4: Which standard API framework is required by CMS and ONC rules to enable patient-facing apps to access health data from certified EHR systems?
- HL7 v2 messaging
- FHIR R4 with SMART on FHIR (Correct answer)
- DICOM web services
- IHE XDS.b profile
Correct answer: FHIR R4 with SMART on FHIR
CMS and ONC rules require certified EHR technology to support FHIR R4 APIs with SMART on FHIR authorization for patient-facing app access.
Question 5: A health system wants to improve health equity through its patient portal. Which strategy is MOST effective for reaching patients with low digital literacy?
- Requiring portal enrollment at discharge
- Offering multilingual support and proxy access with staff-assisted enrollment (Correct answer)
- Sending automated SMS reminders to activate accounts
- Restricting portal features to reduce complexity
Correct answer: Offering multilingual support and proxy access with staff-assisted enrollment
Multilingual support combined with staff-assisted enrollment and proxy access addresses both language barriers and digital literacy gaps to improve equity.
Question 6: Personal Health Records (PHRs) differ from EHRs primarily in that PHRs are:
- Maintained and controlled by the patient (Correct answer)
- Required by federal law for all providers
- Accessible only to licensed clinicians
- Structured using ICD-10 coding standards
Correct answer: Maintained and controlled by the patient
PHRs are health records maintained and controlled by the individual patient, whereas EHRs are controlled by healthcare organizations.
AHIC AHIC Consumer Health Informatics and Patient Engagement 1
Which federal initiative established the foundation for patient access to their own electronic health data in the US?