CMS Lays the Groundwork for a Stronger Digital Healthcare Infrastructure
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) held an in-person listening session to discuss the recent release of the Health Technology Ecosystem Request for Information (RFI) and how to use the health technology innovations to improve patient care and create efficiencies in the healthcare ecosystem. The meeting convened stakeholders from across the healthcare ecosystem including patients, caregivers, technology companies, data providers, and networks; healthcare providers, value-based care organizations, and payers were provided the chance to share their experiences and best practices on using digital health technologies to curb fraud, reduce administrative burdens, and provide higher quality care for millions of beneficiaries.
At the meeting, CMS shared plans to start several projects to create the basic systems needed for a healthier healthcare system, which is in line with Secretary Kennedy’s goal to Make America Healthy Again. These projects include:
- Creating a flexible, connected national directory of healthcare providers.
- Updating identity verification on Medicare.gov to simplify credentials across healthcare.
- Improving features of CMS’s Blue Button 2.0 API for better patient data access.
- Making CMS’s Data at the Point of Care pilot fully available to everyone.
- Strengthening CMS’s role in secure data sharing.
The initiatives, as well as the RFI, are mechanisms that CMS uses to update healthcare through digital health, data security, program integrity, and Medicare, Medicaid, and federal marketplace efficiencies. CMS is seeking comments on this RFI, which are due no later than June 16, 2025.
