27 Jan Health Data News Roundup: Supreme Court an ACA; Blue Shield of CA and Behavioral Health; and ONC HIT Playbook

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.

Supreme Court Will Not Expedite ACA Constitutionality Review
The Supreme Court will not expedite a review of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) constitutionality. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declared the individual mandate void in December 2019, but made no decision regarding the constitutionality of the law as a whole.

Blue Shield of CA Pledges $20M to Support Behavioral Health Services
Blue Shield of California has announced a $20 million commitment to the California Access to Housing and Services fund in order to enhance behavioral health services.

Improving EHR Usability, Interoperability to Aid Patient Safety
In a study conducted by MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors, researchers found that roughly 40 percent of EHRs reported having an issue that can potentially lead to patient harm.

In 2019, Social Determinants of Health Got the Attention They Deserve
Hospitals and health systems are beginning to embrace a more holistic approach to ensuring the wellness of their patient populations, and are adjusting their IT strategies to accommodate it.

ONC Targets Clinician Burnout, APIs, in Updated Health IT Playbook
The ONC has released an updated version of the Health IT Playbook that focuses on aiding clinician burden, providing information on application programming interfaces (APIs) to improve interoperability, and helping healthcare providers comply with HIPAA.

Machine Learning Uses Social Determinants Data to Predict Utilization
A machine learning algorithm accurately predicted inpatient and emergency department (ED) utilization using only publicly available social determinants of health (SDOH) data, showing that it’s possible to determine patients’ risk of utilization without interacting with the patient or collecting information beyond age, gender, race, and address.

AL Providers, Payer Form Value-Based Medicare Advantage Plan
Huntsville Hospital and University of Alabama Birmingham Health System (UAB) are partnering to create a value-based Medicare Advantage plan through Viva Health.

Who Are the Key Players in Social Determinants of Health Strategy?
The healthcare industry has come to a consensus that the social determinants of health and population health are essential considerations for delivering on value-based care. But, organizations need to anticipate a number of stakeholders for making these programs a reality.