CMS NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2018
Contact: CMS Media Relations
(202) 690-6145 | CMS
Media Inquiries
Trump Administration
Announces MyHealthEData Initiative to Put Patients at the Center of the US
Healthcare System
CMS launches “Blue Button 2.0” tool, calls on all health insurers
to make data available to patients
Today, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator
Seema Verma announced a new Trump Administration initiative – MyHealthEData
– to empower patients by giving them control of their healthcare data, and
allowing it to follow them through their healthcare journey.
Last year President Trump issued an Executive Order to Promote
Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States. In response the
Administration is moving towards a system in which patients have control of
their data and can take it with them from doctor to doctor, or to their
other healthcare providers.
The government-wide MyHealthEData initiative is led by the White House
Office of American Innovation with participation from the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) – and its Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS), Office of the National Coordinator for Health
Information Technology (ONC), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) – as
well as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The initiative is designed
to empower patients around a common aim - giving every American control of
their medical data. MyHealthEData will help to break down the barriers that
prevent patients from having electronic access and true control of their
own health records from the device or application of their choice. Patients
will be able to choose the provider that best meets their needs and then
give that provider secure access to their data, leading to greater
competition and reducing costs.
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.
Today in an address at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems
Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Administrator Verma also
announced the launch of Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0 – a new and secure way
for Medicare beneficiaries to access and share their personal health data
in a universal digital format. This enables patients who participate in the
traditional Medicare program to connect their claims data to the secure
applications, providers, services, and research programs they trust.
For example, Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0 will allow a patient to access
and share their healthcare information, previous prescriptions, treatments,
and procedures with a new doctor which can lead to less duplication in
testing and provide continuity of care. Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0 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, including some of the most notable names in
technological innovation, have signed on to use Medicare’s Blue Button 2.0
to develop applications that will provide innovative new tools to help
these patients manage their health.
In her remarks, Administrator Verma specifically called on all
healthcare insurers to follow CMS’s lead and give patients access to their
claims data in a digital format.
“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,” said
Administrator Verma. “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.”
Additionally, CMS intends to overhaul its Electronic Health Record (EHR)
Incentive Programs to refocus the programs on interoperability and to
reduce the time and cost required of providers to comply with the programs’
requirements. CMS will continue to collaborate with ONC to improve the
clinician experience with their EHRs.
Administrator Verma said CMS has implemented laws regarding information
blocking – a practice in which providers prevent patients from getting
their data. Under some CMS programs, hospitals and clinicians must show
they have not engaged in information blocking activities.
The Administrator also highlighted other CMS plans to empower patients
with data:
- CMS is requiring
providers to update their systems to ensure data sharing.
- CMS intends to
require that a patient’s data follow them after they are discharged
from the hospital.
- CMS is working to
streamline documentation and billing requirements for providers to
allow doctors to spend more time with their patients.
- CMS is working to
reduce the incidence of unnecessary and duplicative testing which
occurs as a result of providers not sharing data.
To view a fact sheet with more information, visit: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2018-Fact-sheets-items/2018-03-06.html
To read a copy of the Administrator’s speech, visit: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2018-Press-releases-items/2018-03-06-2.html
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