MITRE has expanded its partnerships for healthcare research and development to include The National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT Collaborative). NHIT will be working with MITRE on the CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare (CAMH).
The groups work to set strategic goals for The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
CAMH is tasked with setting up public-private partnerships to help modernize the healthcare system and improve service delivery. CAMH also supports many of the complex analysis and critical thinking requirements that encompass the business, policy, technology, and operational interests across CMS and HHS.
Broadly, the strategic goals of CMS and HSS are to improve care, lower costs to patients and turn more of the focus onto preventative care. CMS is currently operating under a strategic plan that extends to 2017. Already at the state level, some changes in payment codes and reimbursements are starting to be reflected to take into account new areas of care like telehealth.
As CivSource previously reported, a handful of states including New York have passed bills that will pay providers for offering telehealth services. These services include remote patient monitoring, health data transfer, and remote patient assessment among others. Telehealth initiatives can help at-risk patients and rural patients access healthcare more reliably while overcoming transportation and distance challenges.
