Seema Verma
The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced new initiatives designed to give patients control of their healthcare data.
One initiative, MyHealthEData, is intended to “break down the barriers” that prevent patients from having electronic access to, and control of, their own health records, according to CMS Administrator Seema Verma.
The other initiative, Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0, is a new way for Medicare beneficiaries to access and share their personal health data in a universal digital format.
Verma discussed these programs and other changes CMS is making in a speech at the HIMSS18 Conference in Las Vegas.
MyHealthEData
The Trump Administration is launching MyHealthEData, a government-wide initiative intended to give patients electronic access to their healthcare data and allow patients to take that data with them from healthcare provider to healthcare provider.
The idea is that patients will be able to choose the provider that best meets their needs and give that provider secure access to their data.
“MyHealthEData makes it clear that patients should have access and control to share their data with whomever they want, making the patient the center of our healthcare system,” Verma said.
“Patients need to be able to control their information and know that it’s secure and private. Having access to their medical information will help them make decisions about their care and have a better understanding of their health.”
The MyHealthEData initiative is led by the White House Office of American Innovation, with participation from the Department of Health and Human Services and its CMS, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and National Institutes of Health, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Blue Button 2.0
Verma said Medicare’s 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.
“Beneficiaries will maintain complete control in how and when their data is used . . .,” Verma said.
In addition, Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0 is expected to foster increased competition among technology innovators to serve Medicare patients and their caregivers. More than 100 organizations have signed on to use Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0 to develop applications that will provide new tools to help 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.”
Additional changes
Verma announced that CMS intends to overhaul its Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs to refocus them on interoperability and reduce the time and cost required of providers to comply with the programs’ requirements.
Verma also noted that CMS has implemented laws regarding information blocking, a practice in which providers prevent patients from accessing their data. Under some CMS programs, hospitals and clinicians must show they have not engaged in information-blocking activities.
Other ways in which CMS plans to empower patients with data include:
- Requiring providers to update their systems to ensure data sharing
- Requiring that patients’ data follow them after they are discharged from the hospital
- Working to streamline documentation and billing requirements for providers to allow doctors to spend more time with their patients
- Working to reduce the incidence of unnecessary and duplicative testing, which occurs as a result of providers not sharing data.