The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) www.ftc.gov on April 3, 2015 sent Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology www.healthit.gov comments regarding the draft “Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap DRAFT Version1.1.0” in response to ONC’s call for public comments.
The FTC for a number of years has been examining the role of standardization and interoperability in high technology markets with special emphasis on competitive and innovative effects.
FTC suggests that healthcare providers may resist increased interoperability due to the fact that individuals and caregivers will find it easier to change care providers since it is now easier to transfer electronic health information among providers. This can reduce the competitive advantage with some providers.
In dealing with competitive factors, the FTC points out that it is important to create a supportive business environment to encourage interoperability while using shared governance mechanisms. At the same time, it is necessary to advance technical standards to accommodate the needs of increased interoperability.
FTC also comments on the fact that competition between technologies for inclusion in a standard, can also impact the adoption of new technologies once a standard is set. If a standard is adopted and implemented, an industry may become locked into its use and the costs to adopt an alternative may be much higher than before standardization. This can harm both competition and consumers.
The Roadmap suggests that it will be beneficial for industry to converge on a limited set of dominant standards. FTC suggests that this approach may enable consumers to move easily between different products, thereby stimulating competition between products compatible with the dominant standard, but it may also diminish competition between different standards.
The Roadmap included a plan for ONC to release an annual list of best available standards to be used by technology developers and help with coordinated governance efforts. A draft of the first version of this list titled the “2015 Interoperability Standards Advisory” has been released.
FTC at this time, encourages ONC to consider the impact that government endorsement of standards can have on the marketplace particularly if ONC’s list is later incorporated into regulations or procurement requirements.
Go to www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/04/ftc-staff-offers-guidance-promoting-competition-health for the FTC staff comments submitted to ONC on the draft Roadmap. To view the Roadmap, go to www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/nationwide-interoperability-roadmap-draft-version-1.0.pdf