The health IT market has exploded in the last five to 10 years, but since 2015, the market has shifted from initial public offerings (IPOs) to larger mergers and acquisitions as well as robust interest from venture capital—which means health IT firms need to know what will impress or turn away investors.

Easing clinician burden under the payment tracks implemented as part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) will be a priority for CMS in this year’s rulemaking, according to Kate Goodrich, MD, the agency’s chief medical officer. What won’t be changing, however, is requiring providers to meet the 2015 edition of certified electronic health record technology (CHERT) standards.

The new push for easier patient access to their health data from CMS will require some work on the part of the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), with the agency’s leaders not being shy about supporting its patient-centric goals in a briefing with reporters at HIMSS18 in Las Vegas.

When Indiana’s Goshen Health decided to de-affiliate from Indiana University Health in 2016, it knew its supply costs were going to increase for its 122-bed hospital, cancer center and 27 physician practice locations, according to chief financial officer Amy Floria. That meant waste in the supply chain had to be cut out—like the 80 percent of hospital supplies which had sat untouched on a shelf for two years.

Patients with disabilities or living in poverty have poorer health outcomes and higher costs. Theoretically, alternative payment models (APMs) could encourage providers to better coordinate care for vulnerable populations and improve their outcomes—but they also have the potential to harm these patients, according to Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.

The My HealthE Data initiative announced by CMS at HIMSS18 earned favorable reactions from health IT professionals at the conference. When it comes to actually allowing patients to access and share their health data, however, some companies which profit from the current “friction-filled health data sharing economy” will resist, according to former U.S. chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has released its March 2018 report for Congress, which includes its recommendation to eliminate the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) after only a one year of clinician reporting to the program.

At a March 7 presentation at HIMSS18 given by Samsung Health, experts explained how technology is addressing health crises including chronic pain and geriatric care through telehealth, mobile devices and implantables.

Many feel that the EMR is central to the health of the enterprise and promises to meet many needs. However, as stakeholders drill down into individual departments, there are areas where the EMR may fail to address the specific workflow of the caregivers in those specialties.