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August 2, 2024

The Honorable Diana DeGette

US House of Representatives

2111 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Larry Bucshon, MD

US House of Representatives

2313 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: 21st Century Cures 2.0 RFI

Submitted via email to [email protected]

Dear Congresswoman DeGette and Congressman Bucshon,

We applaud your interest in building on the framework established by the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 (Pub. Law 114-255) to advance medical research and promote access to life-saving treatments and health care innovations. We write to encourage your consideration of policies to accelerate progress in the secure exchange of electronic health information as you contemplate a new set of policies and a broader legislative effort. Unlocking the power of health data holds the promise to improve health outcomes for patients and families, reduce burden for clinicians and other providers, lessen costs for businesses and taxpayers, and target cures to effectively treat illness and save lives.

As you know, Title IV of the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 included several provisions intended to address barriers to electronic data sharing, reduce administrative and cognitive burden associated with certified health information technologies, and hold actors accountable for blocking or inhibiting the flow of patient data throughout the health care system. However, in the eight years since the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, the demand and dependencies on timely and high-quality electronic health information across the health care and technology innovation ecosystems have grown. A renewed focus is needed to address gaps and challenges in data sharing and our health data infrastructure.

This work is not only essential to empowering patients with a full view of their digital health record and clinicians with the information they need to make informed care decisions, but it’s also foundational to the overarching goals of the Cures 2.0 initiative: supporting biomedical innovation, improving public health responses, and modernizing coverage.

While the undersigned organizations may support an array of different approaches and priorities for advancing the sharing of electronic health information, accelerating the adoption and use of data standards, protecting individuals’ privacy, and readying the healthcare ecosystem for adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence tools, we all agree that your work should address remaining gaps and existing challenges with data sharing.

We appreciate your consideration of our comments and encourage you to include policies that accelerate progress in the secure exchange of electronic health information as part of the next iteration of the 21st Century Cures initiative.

Sincerely,

Accountable for Health

AHIP

American Academy of Family Physicians

American College of Cardiology

American College of Physicians

American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

American Medical Informatics Association

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Blue Shield of California

Cambia Health Solutions

Carequality

Civitas Networks for Health

College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)

Connecting for Better Health

Datavant

DirectTrust

eHealth Exchange

Harris Data Integrity Solutions

Health Gorilla, Inc.

Health Innovation Alliance

Healthcare Trust Institute

Healthix

HIMSS

Imprivata, Inc.

Intermountain Health

Medical Group Management Association

MRO

NextGen Healthcare

OCHIN INC

Premier Inc.

Purchaser Business Group on Health

Tennessee HIMSS Chapter

The ERISA Industry Committee

The Sequoia Project

Transcarent

Trinity Health

Verato

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