Healthcare Advocacy Highlights


5.8.19
By: Zach Donisch, Director, AEHIS, AEHIT, AEHIA Membership

The second annual CHIME Advocacy Summit is fast approaching and AEHIT members are encouraged to attend. This three-day event held in Washington, D.C. from June 26-28 will feature education and discussions with officials in Washington, D.C., offer ample networking time, and provide the opportunity to visit Capitol Hill and ensure your voice is heard by our nation’s lawmakers. More information on the CHIME Advocacy Summit is available here: https://chimecentral.org/2019-advocacy-summit

Below are a few AEHIT-specific highlights to look forward to from the upcoming Advocacy Summit agenda, with commentary from members engaged in AEHIT public policy!

  1. HHS Keynote – Wednesday, June 26, 3:30 – 4:15PM

The pathway to value-based care is paved with technology and the ability to operationalize technology solutions. HHS leadership will outline how innovation and health IT will transform healthcare delivery as we know it today.

Speaker: Adam Boehler, Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

“This session will pull the pieces of our AEHIT advocacy work together into one concise summary of what to look for throughout the summit and for the rest of 2019,” wrote Clint Perkinson, AEHIT board chair and committee chair of our AEHIT public policy committee.

Kicking off the Advocacy Summit with a strong focus on the future of healthcare IT, Adam Boehler looks to set the stage for three days of innovation at the government level. As we’ve seen in February of 2019 when new rules were showcased in a torrent of regulatory opportunity, when changes happen in government it’s important to be prepared to respond.

  1. View from Congress: Redefining the delivery of healthcare through Telehealth – Thursday, June 27, 8:45 – 9:45AM

While 2018 marked the passage of some important telehealth legislative proposals, there is still much more to be done to expand access and increase reimbursement for telehealth and remote monitoring. This session will include an update from Capitol hill about next steps to advance telehealth policies in the 116th Congress.

This session taps into the on-going discussion around telehealth and gradual shift in treatment modality seen through the expansion of wireless technologies. This will continue accelerating with the introduction of 5G speeds in consumer electronics. Samantha Jacques, Director of Clinical Engineering at Penn State Health System, offered her take on the evolving telehealth discussion. “Telehealth has been around for a while but has become quite the hot topic among lawmakers in recent years. AEHIT has helped address questions and concerns around the technology, and many providers look forward to further expansion of the use-cases around this treatment modality”.

  1. ONC Leadership Bird’s Eye View – Thursday, June 27 1:00 – 1:45PM

ONC leadership will detail ongoing efforts to advance interoperability and expand stakeholder engagement. This update will also include how ONC views the role of health information technology in the overall transformation of healthcare delivery. Hear thoughts on what’s next for ONC and thoughts on the future of health IT.

Speaker: Don Rucker, M.D., National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Mari Savickis, CHIME’s VP of Federal Affairs who spends much of her time working alongside staff from the Office of the National Coordinator, commented, “understanding the grand vision and the current efforts made by the ONC can only help our public policy committees and work groups become more effective. This session will deliver the latest info straight from a variety of officials in key decision-making areas around healthcare IT policy”.


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