CMS Introduces New Interoperability Initiative

March 2018 ~

CMS has announced its new initiative for interoperability, MyHealthEData.

According to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, the federal initiative has been designed to “empower patients by giving them control of their healthcare data, and allowing it to follow them through their healthcare journey.”

By removing barriers that often prevent patients from having electronic access and true control of their own health records, the initiative will ensure that all patients receive a copy of their entire health record electronically. Patients will be able to choose a provider they feel best meets their needs, then, from the device or application of their choice, give the provider secure access to their data.

The MyHealthEData initiative will be led by the White House Office of American Innovation with participation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), CMS, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“The MyHealthEData initiative will work to make clear that patients deserve to not only electronically receive a copy of their entire health record, but also be able to share their data with whomever they want, making the patient the center of the healthcare system. Patients can use their information to actively seek out providers and services that meet their unique healthcare needs, have a better understanding of their overall health, prevent disease, and make more informed decisions about their care.”

Administrator Verma also announced the launch of Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0 initiative, a new and secure way for Medicare beneficiaries to access and share their personal health data in a universal digital format. According to CMS, Blue Button 2.0 will enable patients who participate in the traditional Medicare program to connect their claims data to the secure applications, providers, services, and research programs they trust.

The program is expected to “foster increased competition among technology innovators to serve Medicare patients and their caregivers, finding better ways to use claims data to serve patients’ health needs.” More than 100 organizations have already signed-on to use Blue Button 2.0 to develop applications that will provide innovative new tools to help these patients manage their health.

“CMS serves more than 130 million beneficiaries through our programs, which means we are uniquely positioned to transform how important healthcare data is shared between patients and their doctors,” Verma said. “Today, we are calling on private health plans to join us in sharing their data with patients because enabling patients to control their Medicare data so that they can quickly obtain and share it is critical to creating more patient empowerment.”

Verma continued, “I challenge the entire healthcare industry to join us in achieving the goals of the MyHealthEData initiative. Let’s empower patients to access to their records, so that they may seek treatment whenever and wherever they choose. We cannot do this alone, but together we can accomplish wonderful things. Ten years from now let’s look back on this conference and the launch of MyHealthEData as the beginning of a new era in patient care and empowerment and celebrate the advances that we can’t even imagine today.”

For more information, view the fact sheet.

Source(s): CMS; CMS; HealthcareITNews; Modern Healthcare; American Hospital Association; American Health Information Management Association; HealthITAnalytics; EHRIntelligence; Healthcare Informatics;