In a push to improve health IT, CMS has doubled down on its efforts to support secure data sharing and emerging technologies by creating a new chief informatics officer role.
The announcement follows the agency’s MyHealthEData initiative launched in March, which is designed to give patients better control and interoperability of their health records. The new role has not been filled.
“CMS fully acknowledges that we cannot operate in a 'way-we-have-always-done-it' manner and hope for different results,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a statement.
The new CHIO will engage stakeholders throughout the healthcare market to enhance care delivery, improve health outcomes, drive down costs and empower patients, the agency stated. The role will also help drive CMS's new health IT initiatives, including the Medicare Blue Button 2.0 program, which is a universal digital format for personal health information, and the overhaul of the CMS EHR Incentive Programs, which are focused on operability.
CMS is also thinking about adding an application programming interface (API) strategy across the agency to allow developers and researchers to design apps powered by it.
“The challenge is great, but so is the reward—building the next generation of interoperable health systems for millions of Americans and affecting national and global health IT for good,” Verma said.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."