Stakeholder Letter to Reps. DeGette and Bucshon on Cures 2.0
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Date
Fri, Aug 2, 2024, 05:00 AM
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
Vouched