In an attempt to improve public health infrastructure, HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will distribute $2.5 million in CARES Act funding to health information exchanges (HIEs). These networks make it easier for healthcare organizations to exchange information, ranging from care summaries to hospital discharge data.
The ONC plans to award five organizations up to $500,000 each, with the goal of helping state and local public health agencies better respond to Covid-19 and future health emergencies.
Integrated Enrollment Platforms and Consumer Assistance Centers: The Strongest Advantage for State-Based Exchanges
In the ever-evolving landscape of state-based health insurance exchanges, the convergence of technology and customer service is reshaping how these exchanges operate. The increasing advent of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly dismantling the traditional business model that relies on the siloing of technology and customer service centers.
“State and local HIEs play a unique role in their communities by uniting health information from many different sites of service, including providers, hospitals, nursing homes, clinical laboratories, and public health departments, making them a natural fit to deliver innovative, local ‘last mile’ approaches to strengthen our overall public health response,” National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Dr. Don Rucker said in a news release. “The funding opportunity we announced today will invest in infrastructure and data services for HIEs that provide critical real-time information to communities at the frontlines of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
To be eligible for funding, applicants must propose services that would benefit public health agencies, and improve services in communities that have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
One of the challenges in with the pandemic is getting a complete picture of hospitalization rates, patient demographics, clinical outcomes and other critical data related to Covid-19. This information was originally reported by hospitals to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, but a hasty switch directing them to report data to the Department of Health and Human Services has left hospitals scrambling.
The new dashboard also has faced a bumpy rollout, with noted discrepancies in hospitalization data between national and state figures.
Growing Interest in Pharmacy Spend, GLP-1 drugs, AI and Navigation Platforms
The 2024 Benefit Consultant Sentiment Index published by MedCity News and sponsored by Quantum Health, now in its second year, is based on a survey of more than 100 seasoned healthcare benefits consultants who represent a cross-section of employer size. A few shared their impressions of some of the report findings.
Photo credit: JamesBrey, Getty Images