The special episode of The Dish on Health IT episode provides insights and coverage from the recent HIMSS24 conference. Hosts Pooja Babbrah, the PBM and Pharmacy Lead and Jocelyn Keegan, Payer/Practice Lead with Point-of-Care Partners dig into their observation from HIMSS24 before reacting to stakeholder interviews from the floor of the Interoperability Showcase on topics ranging from the impact of the final CMS interoperability & prior authorization, benefits of API adoption and pharmacy interoperability opens with a montage of HIMSS24 attendees.

The episode opens with a montage of HIMSS24 attendees sharing what they find valuable about attending HIMSS. Pooja Babbrah then opens the episode explaining that she and co-host Jocelyn Keegan share their key takeaways and insights from the biggest health technology conference in the industry.

Jocelyn started the conversation off by sharing her observation that the work over the last 15 years to forge scalable connections to improve data fluidity has been fruitful and reached a tipping point. Importantly, the conversations we heard at HIMSS24 showed an acknowledgement as important as data fluidity is content of what we are exchanging, and that data quality is just as important.

Jocelyn then shared her second observation which is that we need to build skillset and pool of resources who can do the next phase of work that is needed. She shared that when she worked in the financial industry which was at the time transitioning to interoperability and automation, they had to hire and develop the critical thinkers needed to think through how to best leverage technology, approach change management and do the abstractions needed to be successful. Health IT is at a similar place; we probably need more clinical informaticists because how we use technology in clinical workflows is extremely important, but we also need operational experts to help pull through how shifts in one workflow should get pulled through in others. She went on to say that we need people understand data mapping and why clean data is so important.

Pooja thanked Jocelyn for her insights before sharing her own. She mentioned that she heard talk about whether ViVE and HIMSS could both survive because they occur so close together, are big investments for companies to make to attend or exhibit. She shared that her view is that they are different enough programmatically and attendance mix that she believes they both have value and will survive.

Adding to Jocelyn’s point about data quality, Pooja added that data governance and sending the right data to the right people at the right time versus just sending a data tsunami. Pooja continued by adding that it’s also important to meet people where they are. This was really clear at the post-acute care listening session. Some care facilities are not yet FHIR-enabled, some are able to send data via FHIR but perhaps are not yet API-enabled, how can we meet those facilities where they are even if they aren’t using the cutting-edge technology? Most stakeholders are going to be somewhere on a spectrum of tech adoption. We need to be flexible in how we do things.

Pooja went on to say that another observation is that importance of consent management will continue to grow, and that real work is starting to be done to figure out what patient-centered consent management might look like. We need to be able to exchange the right data at the right time with the right people, but we need to ensure we have the right consent to go along with it.

Pooja mentioned some industry initiatives on consent including the HL7 FHIR at Scale Taskforce Accelerator, which has launched a new consent project. Public meetings for the FAST Consent project have launched and will be held regularly.

A consent learning lab convened by Stewards of Change was held at HIMSS24 for the second year in a row. Pooja expressed that she attended both last years and this year’s events and she could feel a shift including the presence of regulators who were in the room. She explained that the conversation focused on actual work and progress being made in California and Florida as well as a huge focus on the role of consent in connecting health data and human services data.

Next Pooja and Jocelyn listened and reacted to stakeholders who stopped by the POCP Kiosk in the Interoperability showcase to give their perspectives on the final CMS prior authorization & interoperability rule, API adoption, and pharmacy interoperability.

Interviewees at the kiosk included:

• Colin Banas, Chief Medical Officer for DrFirst, shared insights on medication management and prior authorization.
• Polina Vaserman, Vice President, Product Management with MHK, discussed the complexities and proposed improvements in prior authorization final rule.
• Lathe Bigler, Vice President of Clinical Network Services at First Databank provided perspectives on leveraging FHIR APIs for improving price transparency and patient care.
• Lenel James, Business Lead - Health Information Exchange & Innovation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, highlighted the use of FHIR APIs to enhance data accessibility for all stakeholders, including patients, payers, and providers, underscoring the importance of making healthcare data available across the care continuum to improve service delivery and care coordination.
• Melanie Marcus, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer at Surescripts, highlighted the role of pharmacies in expanding care access and the necessity for interoperability and policy support.
• Kathryn Ayers Wickenhauser, Sr. Director of Community Strategy at DirectTrust discusses the critical role of pharmacists in delivering care and the role of Direct Messaging can play in supporting this work.

Themes from the interviews and host response include:

• CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization: There has been broad acknowledgment of the positive progress this final rule will make towards enhancing interoperability and refining the prior authorization processes is widespread, with some hoping for additional policies to go even further. 
• Healthcare Ecosystem and CMS Policies: The industry acknowledges the complexities of medications requiring prior authorization. There's an expectation for CMS to broaden its research and policy scope to include specialty medications, recognizing their critical importance.
• Impact of Technology and Innovation: The importance of adopting standards like FHIR for improving healthcare interoperability is emphasized. Leveraging technology and standard adherence is highlighted as crucial for enabling effective communication among healthcare stakeholders, reducing administrative burdens, and improving patient care quality.
• Pharmacy’s Essential Role: Pharmacies are spotlighted as key to healthcare delivery, especially in underserved areas. There's strong advocacy for improved pharmacy interoperability and integration into the care team, stressing the need for policies, payment reforms, and access to health information to support their expanded role.
• Using Existing Technologies: The discussions promote the practical use of existing technologies and workflows to address healthcare delivery challenges effectively. This pragmatic approach centers on solving immediate patient care and business problems with available tools and sharing successful industry practices to foster broader adoption.
• Future Directions and Collective Engagement: A desire for ongoing engagement with health IT innovations, with a focus on interoperability, is clear in future industry events. The importance of collaborative efforts within the community and across the industry is underscored as critical for driving advancements in health IT and interoperability.

After Pooja and Jocelyn listened and reacted to the interviews, Pooja shifted to close out the episode. She took a moment to reflect on the rich dialogue and insights shared by the professionals across the healthcare sector. She acknowledged the collective and collaborative effort that is fundamental to advancing health IT, underscoring the critical role of technology, the growing importance of pharmacies in the healthcare delivery ecosystem, and the collective anticipation for the evolution of policies concerning specialty medications and the work toward a better way to manage consent. With a nod to the resilience and spirit of innovation that defines the HIMSS conference, Pooja expressed gratitude for the contributions of all speakers and participants, celebrating another successful year of sharing, learning, and collaborating. Looking ahead with optimism, she voiced enthusiasm for the next HIMSS, where the community will reconvene to delve deeper into healthcare's pressing issues, explore new advancements, and foster further collaborations that promise to shape the future of health IT.