New CMS data interoperability rule takes effect July 1

The rule aims to free data from silos to promote interoperability between payers and providers.

On July 1, a final rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) takes effect and aims to continue, as CMS says, “to build on its roadmap to improve interoperability and health information access for patients, providers, and payers. When implemented effectively, health information exchange (interoperability) can also reduce the burden of certain administrative processes, such as prior authorization. We have issued regulations that will drive change in how clinical and administrative information is exchanged between payers, providers and patients, and will support more efficient care coordination.”

To understand the impact of the rule, HealthLeaders reached out to two technology companies working on enabling healthcare organizations to meet the requirements of the rule. We posed identical questions in separate interviews to Don Searing, PhD, vice president of solutions architecture at Sagility Technology, a consulting organization deploying people, process, and technology platform improvements; and Minal Patel, president and CEO of Abacus Insights, which provides a data integration and interoperability platform that enables health plans and their providers to create a more personalized healthcare experience for consumers…