MyHealthEData Initiative Puts Patients at the Center of the US Health Care System

On March 6, CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced a new initiative – MyHealthEData – to empower patients by giving them control of their health care data and allowing it to follow them through their health care journey. MyHealthEData will help to break down the barriers that prevent patients from having electronic access and true control of their own health records. 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.

In an address at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference, 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.

Additionally, CMS intends to overhaul the Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs to refocus the programs on interoperability and reduce the time and cost required of providers to comply with the programs’ requirements.

The Administrator also highlighted other CMS plans to empower patients with data:

• Require providers to update their systems to ensure data sharing
• Require that a patient’s data follow them after they are discharged from the hospital
• Streamline documentation and billing requirements for providers to allow doctors to spend more time with their patients
• Reduce the incidence of unnecessary and duplicative testing which occurs as a result of providers not sharing data

For More Information:

·         Fact Sheet: Trump Administration Announces MyHealthEData Initiative at HIMSS18

·         Speech: Remarks by CMS Administrator Seema Verma at the HIMSS18 Conference