“She couldn’t have picked a better moment, or a better venue: when Seema Verma, Administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), got up to speak on Tuesday morning at HIMSS18, unfolding here in the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas, she had the entire healthcare IT industry, and much of the U.S. healthcare industry more broadly, listening to her.”
“And what Verma had to say was substantive, announcing the launch of a new initiative called “MyHealthEData,” aimed at revolutionizing the relationship of U.S. healthcare consumers to their patient data. As the announcement, published on the CMS website at about the same time Verma was speaking at HIMSS18, said…”
“Moving back to the federal policy level, Verma told her audience Tuesday that, “Through the MyHealthEData initiative, this administration is focused on putting patients first, truly first, by giving them the information they need to truly improve their health. This administration will pull every lever to create a health information ecosystem that tailors the health system” to improve outcomes… And smartphones in particular create the portability needed to create mobility… Uniform standards being drafted in the 21st Century Cures Act that will allow for information-sharing. The technology and regulatory requirements are finally coming together,” she emphasized…”
“Meanwhile, Verma’s speech turned out to not have been an isolated event this week, as federal healthcare officials made comments that reinforced her points, in a variety of venues and situations. Alex Azar, the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, caused his own splash this morning with a speech given in Washington, D.C. for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)…” Read the full article here.
Source: CMS Makes a Big Splash with Verma’s Speech, But What Does It Really Mean? – By Mark Hagland, March 8, 2018. Healthcare Informatics.
