Wednesday, September 2 — September 8, 2020 // no. 071
Puerto Rico and the Caribbean
www.theweeklyjournal.com
LUMA ENERGY RESPONDS TO CNE REPORT P7 GOOD NEWS FOR PUERTO RICO TOURISM SECTOR P8 FIRSTBANK ACQUIRES BANCO SANTANDER PUERTO RICO P9
NEW FEDERAL REGULATIONS SEEK TO REVOLUTIONIZE
ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE DATA Need underscored by coronavirus pandemic
ENJOY AN ARTISTIC ROAD TRIP AROUND THE ISLAND P14-15
I
Rosario Fajardo and Giovanna Garofalo
n the coming months, patients could gain unprecedented access to their healthcare data, giving them more control over the management of their conditions as new federal interoperability regulations push insurers and health providers to adopt new technologies and standards. The new guidelines are set to take effect starting January 2021, after being postponed for several months due to the onset of the current COVID-19 pandemic. “The main challenge facing the healthcare system
for many years, both in the United States and Puerto Rico, is the fact that existing technology platforms used to handle patient information do not communicate,” said Dolmarie Méndez, CEO and co-founder of Abartys Health, a tech startup. “The current state of fragmented communication among insurers, providers and patients dramatically increases costs and stops patients from receiving the best health services.” The idea, she noted, is to give patients the power to access, contribute to and integrate information from their own health records using GO TO PAGE 4