It’s already been a hectic and controversial couple of weeks in Washington, with fights on a variety of policy and government sides in the first few days of the following Trump Administration. Immediately, we’ll be able to learn a lot more about the direction that care and health IT policy will take. Robert F. Kennedy, Trump’s choose to lead the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, has not been confirmed yet, but he inched one step closer with a party-line Finance Committee voting on Feb. 4. Some questions about the future course of heath IT plan, among others, may be answered quickly if RFK Jr. receives a last vote in the Senate. We spoke recently with Altera Digital Health’s Leigh Burchell, vice president of legislation & public affairs, and approaching seat of the EHR Association, to find out what she anticipates to happen in the weeks and months ahead for wellness IT at the national level. Among President Trump’s first-day burst of lots of professional purchases, one of the first was to soon revoke the Biden administration’s executive order on artificial intellect, which had many measures related to AI in healthcare. What do you think scaffolding will go on? Does says move in to assume a more significant position? What will it mean for IT sellers? A. I would anticipate less of the Trump administration’s attention being put on the barriers that AI can impose on access to equal care and more on putting an emphasis on competing nationally in AI development. In the absence of a strong national model for AI in healthcare, I do anticipate that the fast pace of state-level legislative and regulation that we have seen in the last year will continue. Additionally, I do anticipate that the patchwork strategy will provide a challenge to software designers and those service organizations that operate in more than one position. Q. The HHS agency-wide joke order is still in place, as of this writing. How destructive will that be, even if it’s lifted in February? What does it mean for cooperation between companies and public health organizations, all of which was made possible by TEFCA these past few years, if it extends? A. Government stakeholders haven’t been taking as many meetings of business meetings as they usually do as a result of the communications lockdown, but if the order expires in early February as anticipated, it didn’t have a significant impact. However, it’s conceivable, based on reported areas of focus from the new leadership, that some agencies will be allowed to return to normal buy sooner than others, with those focused on public health apparently being afterward to resume their normal communications and commitment. Q. Have you heard anything more recent about what might be happening with the new ONC chief/ASTP? Do you get the feeling they’re on the new admin’s radar screen? A. Given that there are many names that are being made available, it is obvious that the transition team is interested in identifying the new health IT leader. They must locate the ideal candidate who will work for a federal salary, who might step down from a private sector position, and who is also willing to spend five days a week in the office. Q. Given what other agencies have seen since January 20, could we see ASTP’s work in danger? Or can we expect to see continued progress on TEFCA, HTI rules, etc.? A. I anticipate that will largely remain the case because health IT has always been a nonpartisan area for policymakers. I do anticipate that the scope and volume of work from that team will be constrained in the coming years because ASTP will likely be subject to the same deregulatory forces and a smaller budget as other Federal agencies. Q. What other information have health IT leaders been hearing or considering in Washington or elsewhere? A. Congress is interested in AI and cybersecurity and may take action there once the flurry of nominations and budgeting is over. Looking through this lens, Congress is interested in both. Senate leadership is also concerned about protecting rural healthcare delivery and making sure that a patient’s care doesn’t suffer from a patient-generated quality of care. On a different note, it will be interesting to see how the emphasis on prevention and better management of chronic diseases that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz have will affect regulations that they have put forth, especially as it relates to quality measurement. To better manage chronic diseases, you need to better understand how people are doing, the care they receive, and which treatments are most effective, so that might mean an increased focus on value-based care efforts and particularly outcomes measurement. Mike Miliard serves as the publisher of Healthcare IT News.
Email the writer: mike. miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.