Feds Talk Health Equity, GE introduces Digital Health Platform at HIMSS22
Healthcare leaders convene to discuss the digital health transition, health equity, interoperability advancements, and more.
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- This week, in Orlando, FL, senior executives from healthcare providers and payer organizations are sharing their technology accomplishments and new product developments.
HIMSS CEO Hal Wolf opened the conference Tuesday by highlighting the need for increased health equity and a reimaging of the healthcare system.
"We simply can't afford to miss these lessons that we've learned,” Wolf asserted. “It's not just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. You must ask yourselves: What will you do to reimagine health? What will we do to reimagine health together?" he asked.
Former Disney Chairman Ben Sherwood joined Wolf commenting on the changes brought by the pandemic.
"Technology is changing healthcare every minute,” Sherwood noted. “The pace of change over the next five years, let alone the next 50, is going to be breathtaking. And yes, we still don't know all the ways that the pandemic has disrupted and will disrupt the world.”
HHS secretary Xavier Becerra virtually attended the conference Tuesday, championing the integration of care and interoperability in health IT. "Every patient has a right to their information,” Becerra said. “We're finally implementing health technology from the 21st Century Cures Act.”
Becerra went on to discuss penalties for information blocking, hinting at strict enforcement and forthcoming penalties for non-compliant organizations.
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure spoke alongside Becarra and revealed that a future rule on enhanced data exchange is in the works. She espoused the views of the Biden Administration, saying, "It's imperative people have access to coverage… we need to build a data-connected healthcare system; we must do this to address the inequities in our healthcare system."
Alongside government officials, several industry leaders shared their health IT developments.
GE’s healthcare division announced its new Edison digital Health platform, a vendor-agnostic innovation that uses artificial intelligence to aggregate data between disparate applications.
GE said the interoperability tool is being developed with providers in mind, allowing for the integration of disparate applications into existing clinical workflows. The digital platform will offer providers clinical insights by pairing their EHRs with other pieces of technology in the rapidly morphing health IT environment.
In addition, Samsung was present Tuesday as it introduced its Smart Healthcare TV. Advertised as an all-in-one hub for health information, the display supports HIPAA compliance and has the ability to share EHRs, telehealth meetings, and other critical patient data. The tech giant said it recognizes the healthcare industry as a field for continued growth, and it plans on creating additional digital health solutions, according to one executive there.
On Monday, medical device company Masimo premiered telehealth capabilities for its remote patient monitoring platform. The company introduced the product as an add-on for its existing Patient SafetyNet system.
The technology hosts connectivity with remote clinicians and central command systems while using less bandwidth than traditional video conferencing software. In addition, Masimo’s design allows for file transfer to encourage simplified workflows for physicians.
Mobile healthcare company Social Mobile will also broadcast its vaccine technology at HIMSS this week. The company has developed an Android-powered solution that tracks and manages the administration of vaccines for mobile healthcare providers. Since the pandemic’s beginning, Social Mobile has supported the administration of 650,000 shots using the tech.
HIMSS 2022 concludes Friday the 18th with a keynote speech from Olympian Michael Phelps.
