The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC), released the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: ASTP/ONC Deregulatory Actions to Unleash Prosperity (HTI-5) Proposed Rule.

In collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Deputy Secretary’s office, the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC) has released a request for information (RFI) focused on one big question: What would it look like if we put the whole of HHS toward accelerating the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in clinical care?

In July our colleagues at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched an ambitious Health Technology Ecosystem pledge program. The groundswell of energy and enthusiasm for the program has been remarkable, and we’re glad to be their partner.

We all know what it’s like to get forms completed with all the right information (and to get it done quickly!), and patients seeking determinations on their eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance know this all too well. Patients and providers often spend significant time and resources retrieving, reviewing, copying, and transmitting relevant medical records. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration (SSA) are taking on the challenge to improve this process through the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement™ (TEFCA™).

It wasn’t always so, but today we have technology available to exchange health information anywhere there’s an internet connection. What’s slowing us from doing so at nationwide scale is trust. The frictions are human and institutional. They cannot be addressed exclusively with technology.