Interoperability

Jonathan French, HIMSS' senior director of public policy, explains how the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem and ONC's HTI-5 Proposed Rule may reshape interoperability policy and regulation for digital health tools.

In her role as a tribal liaison for the state of Nevada, HealtHIE Nevada's Brenda Hood says she advocates for Native communities and helps connect them to the needed resources for building digital infrastructures.

HHS is proposing to adopt certain HL7 FHIR standards and implement specifications for transactions related to prior authorizations.

University of Iowa Health Care AVP for information systems and CIDO Josh Wilda says connecting to TEFCA can help clinics in rural Iowa with limited IT resources to share data without costly custom connections.

After decades in healthcare IT and advocacy and starting a local HIMSS chapter, Helen Hill, SEMHIE VP and CIO, is still shaping policy as board member and interoperability task force chair at Michigan's health information exchange.

Interoperability improves care quality, but Dr. Hannah Galvin, Cambridge Health Alliance's chief health information officer, cautions that data overexposure can drive disengagement among historically stigmatized patient populations.

When veterans can be quickly identified at health systems, they can access needed benefits more easily, including emergency mental health care, says Dr. Jonathan Nebeker, Department of Veterans Affairs CMIO.

Elena Sini, HIMSS board chair and group CIO at GVM Care and Research, says national coordination and European Commission funding are enabling Italy's shift from fragmented regional healthcare to a single digital strategy.

Hear directly from panelists and other experts at HIMSS26 about developments at the VA, enhancing clinician and patient experiences with AI tools and reducing bias in data sets that AI models use.

Providers and payers have two years to comply with the mandate the agency says will save $781 million a year.