There is no doubt that changes will be coming in health IT as we look towards a new administration and leadership changes at agencies like HHS and CMS. As news continues to swirl around President Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, what will it mean for the future of digital health? Read our latest roundup to find out.
Changing Leadership at CMS, ONC as New Administration Moves In
Big changes may be in store for healthcare under a new and unpredictable Presidential administration, but some familiar and experienced faces will be steering the ship at CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) while the White House mulls over permanent replacements for key industry posts. As executive leaders await their confirmation hearings, Dr. Patrick Conway at CMS remains busy promoting the development of value-based care, explaining regulatory programs such as meaningful use and MACRA, and breaking down CMS data related to quality improvement, patient safety, and care coordination. Continue reading for more about the changes at CMS.
A Look Ahead at Digital Health and Health Policy
On the day of Trump’s inauguration as 45th president of the United States, we’re looking back at the question we tried to answer when Trump won back in November: What will the Trump presidency mean for digital health? Now we know more than we did then, but there is still a lot of uncertainty. Read on for a summary of what we know now about the future of healthcare in the new administration.
Report: Federal Health IT Spending will Increase to $6.4 billion in 2021
The federal government is forecasted to spend $6.4 billion on vendor-furnished health IT products and services across all agencies in fiscal year 2021, a $400 million increase from the $6 billion on technology spending in fiscal 2016, according to a report from Deltek, a Herndon-VA, based enterprise software and information solutions vendor. In the report, Federal Health Information Technology Market, 2016-2021, it estimates health IT spend will increase from $6 billion to $6.4 billion in the next five years, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 1.4 percent. Continue reading for more.
Value-Based Care Demands Free-Flowing Data
To say that a lot has changed in healthcare since last year’s HIMSS conference is an understatement. Despite all that’s changed, one thing has not: the move from fee-for-service to value-based care. Not only is this a transformation that pre-dates the Obama years and the ACA, but thanks to the overwhelmingly bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, or MACRA, the shift to value is enshrined in our law, and will survive any changes to the ACA. To make value-based care work, however, we need data – lots of it, and free flowing. Continue reading to find out how healthcare providers can harness the power of data to make value-based care work.
