Insurers enter interoperability debate, to tension

With help from Arthur Allen (@arthurallen202)) and Mohana Ravindranath (@ravindranize)

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INSURERS ENTER INTEROP DEBATE, TO TENSION: The data-sharing wars are getting some new blood: payers. The companies that dole out the money believe that gaining more access to clinical data will help them adapt to value-based care. But they feel the price of obtaining such access is too high. That’s why they — and ONC, plus HL7 — have been trying to standardize data transmission through their da Vinci Project.

Somewhat skeptical are providers, who aren’t sure they want to give payers all that access. “The equivalent would be if I asked you to hand over your [phone] so I could look through it,” said Robert Tennant, director of health IT for MGMA. Tennant’s not alone — and the tension might define how value-based care evolves. Pros can read the full story here.

WILKIE QUESTIONED: VA Secretary Robert Wilkie endured his time under the Congressional spotlight Wednesday, offering strong assurances that he opposed privatization of the system, and saying as a veteran — and son of a veteran — he understands the importance of the system for vets’ culture and well-being.

In response to questioning from Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who chairs the Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee overseeing the EHR changeover, Wilkie said that interoperability he believed could be achieved through the Cerner implementation would be key to the VA’s ability to make its new community care program work — and by extension, key to preventing privatization.

“The success of the EHR systems ensures that VA will stay at the center of veterans’ health care, that VA will be the central node no matter what a veteran decides to do,” he said. “That’s one of the answers when it comes to the issue of privatization.”

— What’s the holdup on a permanent CIO?: The mystery about the lack of a permanent CIO for the Department of Veterans Affairs is gaining some clarity. The nominee for the post — Jim Gfrerer — has been held up by New York’s Democratic senators, despite a favorable vote from the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

First, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand put a hold on Gfrerer over an unrelated VA issue. That hold has been lifted but, according to one Senate source, Chuck Schumer is currently preventing a vote on Gfrerer. Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The delay comes as several members from both parties have complained about the lack of senior permanent leadership at the VA. The Veterans Health Administration is still leaderless four months after Wilkie took office, as is the Office of Information and Technology, which is led by acting CIO Camilo Sandoval.

— Meanwhile: The Veterans Affairs Department awarded Optum two major health projects Wednesday, including providing telephone-based lifestyle coaching covering diet, exercise, stress and alcohol use, to eligible veterans. OptumServe, the federal unit of UnitedHealth Group’s health IT division, will also provide medical disability exams to veterans and separating service members in some regions starting in 2019.

eHealth tweet of the day: Catherine Rampell @crampell
“Facebook has lately taken to showing me ads for
*wedding gowns
*maternity clothes
*egg-freezing services
*cat toys
In other words, the four possible paths for women in their 30s, according to advertisers”

THURSDAY: As we creep ever closer to the end of 2018 — and the beginning of 2019 — any feedback about how we’ve been doing (and what we should be keeping an eye on next year) would be welcome. Feel free to share any kibitzing with [email protected] Talk socially at @arthurallen202, @dariustahir, @ravindranize, @POLITICOPro and @Morning_eHealth.

ELSEWHERE IN CONGRESS … : Meanwhile, the rest of Congress had a busy Wednesday:

— Shutdown watch: Senate leaders have introduced a short-term funding fix to keep the federal government running for seven more weeks — until early February. While that averts a nightmare before Christmas, it sets up a potential three-way donnybrook between President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and presumptive Speaker Nancy Pelosi early in 2019.

— Privacy eruption again: Democratic lawmakers singed Facebook after yet another deep-dive investigation into the social network’s privacy practices Wednesday, our Tech colleague Steven Overly reports. Their rhetoric signals the party’s commitment to a federal privacy law and tougher FTC enforcement authority, both of which could have the tangential consequence of regulating a lot of currently lightly-overseen health apps and gadgets. (Our health-focused primer on the potential consequences of a federal privacy law here.)

PATCHING UPDATES: Some notes on fixing gadgets that needed patching up:

— NIST guidance: The National Institute of Standards and Technology is extending the deadline to comment on a security analysis regarding mobile and wearable devices used by first responders. The notice noted that with an anticipated increase in the use of such devices, attention is needed to their cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The new deadline is February 6. The document is here.

— Medtronic correction: Medical device manufacturing giant Medtronic is updating the software in one of its ventilators beginning Wednesday. The ventilator’s USB drive and graphical user interface needed enhancing, and the company is updating the devices with the new software. The announcement is here.

BUSINESS NOTES: Big changes in some businesses:

— Aledade, Blue Cross North Carolina team up: Startup Aledade and Blue Cross and Blue Shield North Carolina are teaming up to support Accountable Care Organizations for independent physicians in the state. The pair say they will be encouraging data sharing, and Aledade will be using claims data from the insurer. It’s a bit of a reunion for some of the key personnel at each firm: Insurer CEO Patrick Conway was the longtime head of CMMI; his counterpart at Aledade, Farzad Mostashari, is of course a fellow Obama administration alum from his days leading ONC.

— Cerner alum snags new job: Former Cerner president Zane Burke is now CEO of startup Livongo Health, the company announced. The company tries to help patients with chronic conditions, and was previously led by Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman.

Quality ratings coming for addiction treatment providers, Modern Healthcare reports.

Surprise DNA test results turn customer service workers into therapists, Bloomberg says.

Nature Medicine writes about using AI to pinpoint abnormalities in brain scans.