21 Jan Health Data News Roundup: Government Shutdown and Medicare; GAO Report on Patient Matching; and CVS and Social Determinants

Welcome to the Health Data Weekly News Roundup from IMAT Solutions. As the power of data continues to grow in the healthcare arena, today’s care organizations need to be on the forefront of all news and trends to help ensure that their data analytics efforts deliver accountable and informed care. Each week, we will provide you with the actionable news you need to meet these goals.

Government Shutdown Spares Medicare, Medicaid, But Has Other Impacts
The partial government shutdown is not affecting Medicare and Medicaid, but other health-related services are being impacted.

GAO Identifies Additional Efforts to Improve Patient Matching
The Government Accountability Office recently released findings from interviews of nearly two score of physicians, hospitals, and other stakeholders that detail the many challenges in the way of patient matching as well as potential solutions.

Senate Committee Says EHR Modernization Cannot Be Allowed to Fail
The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has issued a serious warning to new VA CIO James Gfrerer about the EHR modernization project.

Missouri Health Connection’s CEO Defends HIEs’ Value in a Competitive HIT Landscape
Angie Bass, President and CEO of Missouri Health Connection, believes that health information exchanges fill a critical interoperability gap created by large EHR vendors.

After Buying Aetna, CVS Health Commits $100M to Address SDOHs
With its $69 billion acquisition of Aetna in the books, the newly expanded CVS Health is now investing heavily in developing and deploying new models to address community wellness and the social determinants of health (SDOH).

HCTTF Offers Clinical Episode Grouper Resources for Bundled Payments
The Health Care Transformation Task Force (HCTTF) has released a new set of resources to support payers as they develop innovative bundled payment programs.

AMIA: Clinical Research And Care Need to Be Better Aligned
Despite widespread adoption of electronic health record systems by providers, data-driven healthcare remains “overwhelmingly” unrealized, according to the American Medical Informatics Association.