Administrator Seema Verma outlines her vision for seamless data sharing to lower costs and empower patients.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is making a significant commitment to streamlining technology with the decision to hire a new chief health informatics officer (CHIO).
"The truth is, as the largest healthcare payer in the country, CMS should have had a CHIO function long ago. Despite today’s amazing technology and decades of promises, we are not where we should be," wrote CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a blog post Thursday.
Verma outlines a vision for the organization's approach to IT, saying, "We see health IT systems that work seamlessly with each other, and a government that supports secure data sharing and emerging technologies so that healthcare in America is better and less expensive."
Responsibilities for the CHIO posiiton include the following:
- Driving health IT and data sharing to enhance healthcare delivery
- Improving health outcomes
- Driving down costs
- Empowering patients
The news was embraced by Premier Inc., a healthcare improvement company, an alliance of about 3,900 U.S. hospitals and more than 150,000 other provider organizations, along with a plea for increased provider access to data.
"Members of Premier are pleased that CMS Administrator Seema Verma is taking steps to modernize health information technology, make information patient accessible and appoint a new chief health informatics officer," says Blair Childs, senior vice president of public affairs at Premier Inc. "While these are important steps, we can't lose sight of the vital need for greater provider access to data at the point of care and within the clinical workflow."
"Providers struggle with walled gardens that prevent the free flow of information, creating blind spots that can be damaging to patient care, research and innovation," Childs adds.
Additional points made in the CMS administrator's blog post include:
- CMS is putting patients first, moving to break down silos of patient information that deprive access to the best quality and most affordable care.
- A major part of the CMS strategy to drive down costs depends on smart and innovative use of information technology.
- Health IT should enhance, rather than disrupt, care coordination. To ensure the best treatment, information should automatically follow patients to all of their healthcare providers.
- Cost transparency is another important factor, enabling patients to shop for health services.
Mandy Roth is the innovations editor at HealthLeaders.