Uncertainty about the federal government is adding to the challenges facing providers, payers and other third-party organizations striving for health data interoperability.
Attendees at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s annual conference in Las Vegas on Monday had few answers on how President Donald Trump’s administration could affect the future of healthcare interoperability. Since Trump returned to the White House in January, thousands of federal officials across HHS received layoff notices, Republicans teed up potential Medicaid cuts and public health data was removed from government websites.
Related: Microsoft launches healthcare AI assistant at HIMSS
The uncertainty is seeping into HIMSS, where in past years, speakers from the federal government were mainstays and used the event to announce new initiatives. This year, there will be minimal government presence at the conference.
A spokesperson for the U.S Health and Human Services Department’s Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said ASTP staff would not be attending the 2025 event in person after being scheduled to speak. Other speakers from HHS were also scrubbed from the event’s agenda. At least one speaker from the Department of Veterans Affairs was still slated to speak.
Multiple panelists at an interoperability-focused summit held at HIMSS on Monday said government involvement was necessary to advance a framework for healthcare stakeholders to share information. Paul Wilder, executive director at nonprofit health information network CommonWell Health Alliance, said companies are unlikely to do accomplish true interoperability without additional government oversight.
“Without government participation in something like [the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement], we are missing the arbiter and the adult in the room to help us move better collectively,” Wilder said.
The creation of TEFCA was required by the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law in December 2016 by President Barack Obama. It calls for the creation of an industry framework to serve as a baseline for interoperable data sharing across disparate systems and providers carried out by designated Qualified Health Information Networks. ASTP plays a significant role in shaping TEFCA and enforcing other interoperability provisions, including issuing a final rule in December.
Brendan Keeler, interoperability and data liquidity practice lead at consultancy HTD Health, said organizations should expect at least six months of uncertainty as the new administration determines its priorities.
“There is just a lack of clarity, and it is anyone's guess what's going to happen,” Keeler said.
Once the Trump administration's senior leaders are in place, Keeler expects them to move quickly because they're largely going to have people who worked at startups and in private industry.
“[They’re people] that not used to regulatory pace and will sort of bulldoze through things,” Keeler said.
