17 Aug Health Data News Roundup: Patient Matching Bill; HHS Funding for HIEs; and Virtual Medicare Advantage Plans

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.

Sens. Introduce Bill to Enhance Patient Matching, Contact Tracing
US Senators Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, and Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, introduced bipartisan legislation to allow HIEs to utilize the US Postal Service (USPS) tool to enhance patient matching and standardize patient data formatting in EHR systems.

HHS Awarding $2.5M to HIEs to Strengthen Infrastructure, Support Public Health Agencies
Last week, HHS announced a new $2.5 million funding opportunity intended to improve electronic health information data exchange among health information exchanges and state and local public health agencies.

COVID-19 Waivers Improved Medicare Advantage Telehealth Access
Medicare Advantage plans and other stakeholders reported that CMS waivers successfully enabled Medicare and Medicare Advantage telehealth access during the coronavirus pandemic, but several barriers remain, according to a recent study.

Dawn of the Virtual Medicare Advantage Plan from Alignment Health
As part of its product and footprint expansion in 2021, Alignment Healthcare (“Alignment”) plans to launch a virtual Medicare Advantage plan, the payer recently announced.

MO Passes Medicaid Expansion, Second State to Expand Amid COVID-19
Missouri will move forward with its Medicaid expansion amendment, as 53 percent of the nearly 1.3 million voters approved the measure.

Navigating Medigap Plans: How Payers Can Lead the Way
Payers can play a key role in helping consumers understand their Medigap benefits and policy options through greater benefit and price transparency, according to this recent Health Payer Intelligence article.

DirectTrust Forms Consensus Body to Enhance Interoperability
DirectTrust announced the creation of a consensus body to pursue the development of an implementation guide that utilizes the Direct Standard to increase interoperability between Admission, Discharge, Transfer (ADT) notifications.