Written by Jolie Ritzo, Interim CEO, Civitas Networks for Health
Civitas Networks for Health applauds Dr. Oz, Amy Gleason, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for their commitment to modernizing the country’s digital health ecosystem, with a focus on empowering patients by increasing access to innovative health technologies and working to utilize existing networks, standards, privacy, security, and governance structures so that health information flows more seamlessly.
This is a pivotal moment. Because of data silos and fragmented systems, provider tech burnout and patient distrust are pervasive. CMS has called for serious action backed up by stakeholder commitments.
The Importance of Networks in Tackling Complex Issues
Civitas stands ready to support CMS in this bold vision. Our members’ dedication to trusted, protected data exchange, improved care, and quality improvement impacts patients and providers nationwide. Civitas members work to improve health in every state through data-driven, multi-stakeholder efforts that leverage collaboration from the ground up, allowing members to share best practices, learn from one another, and scale success that brings a more efficient and responsive health care system closer to reality.
It is essential to note that our full name, Civitas Networks for Health, includes “Networks” with an “s”. Our foundation is built on our extensive networks. Our collaborative works together to enhance health data exchange and national interoperability with the primary goal of improving care, supporting the health of Americans overall. This is complex work, but achievable! Civitas’ networks of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and Health Data Utilities (HDUs), Community Information Exchanges (CIEs), All Payer Claims Databases (APCDs), Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), approved Qualified Health Improvement Networks (QHINs), health collaboratives, tech vendors, affiliate members – such as DirectTrust, HIMSS, NCQA, and many others – are vital components of the national health infrastructure.
The Official Launch and Early Adopters
Last week’s CMS Make Health Tech Great Again launch event for early adopters was another important signal from the administration that they are creating the environment for change.
“This is a movement, not a mandate. It is a call to action, not a regulation. Let’s show what’s possible when we work together – and finally bring health care into the modern era.”
Civitas commends our members who participated in the day’s events and are recognized as early adopters of the CMS Interoperability Framework, including:
The full list of early adopters by pledge categories can be viewed here.
These organizations and many of our members stand ready to empower patients, providers, and payers with real-time, secure, and seamless health data access. By voluntarily pledging to implement the CMS Interoperability Framework, they’re helping advance a more connected, accessible, and privacy-first health data ecosystem. Civitas encourages more of our members to sign the pledge (technically, there are six pledges) and to actively get involved with making this vision a reality.
We are grateful to our Civitas Board members, Jaime Bland CEO of CyncHealth, David Kendrick CEO of MyHealth Access, and Craig Behm President and CEO of CRISP, for representing Civitas and being a voice for the broader HIE network across the country during the event last week.
Keeping Up with a Fast-Moving Timeline
The administration is moving quickly. After getting new HHS leadership established and priorities aligned, CMS initially launched this effort to the public by releasing the Health Tech Ecosystem RFI in mid-May with a June 16th deadline. CMS and ASTP/ONC led an in-person stakeholder event at HHS in early June to collect feedback on the RFI and preview the road ahead. Ahead of the White House event on July 30, CMS continued to preview their now released Interoperability Framework in public at the CMS Quality Conference on July 1-2 and in smaller settings with industry stakeholders (including Civitas members) all of which was developed from extensive RFI feedback HHS received.
Choosing to launch the Framework with a series of pledges instead of going down the path of burdensome rulemaking was a strategic move that reflects the desire to act quickly, as well as the recognition—developed in dialogue with Civitas and many others—that much of the architecture to move fast is already in place outside the federal government. This approach is encouraging and aligns with Civitas’ mission, underscoring the reality that interoperable exchange can only succeed in practical “on the ground” terms by working with existing organizational, technical, and trust frameworks.
Pay Attention to CMS Aligned Networks
“We pledge to work collaboratively to implement the CMS Interoperability Framework and become a CMS Aligned Network. We commit to empowering patients, providers, and their apps – and, where appropriate, payers – with real-time access to complete and secure health information, in ways that protect patient privacy and follow applicable standards and regulations, without friction or delay.”
With CyncHealth, CRISP, and MyHealth Access Network invited to the launch event as “early adopter” CMS Aligned Networks, we are excited that CMS is exploring partnerships with HIEs and HDUs to support an expansive and practical vision of trusted exchange that enhances their value in supplying real-time data and on-ramping providers to wider interoperability (most notably as endpoints for the forthcoming FHIR National Provider Directory API, which CMS aims to release later this year). For this model of multi-networked national exchange to work, the networks must have baseline capabilities related to FHIR, USCDI V3, and meet other critical quality standards.
Many of Civitas members have these capabilities and are well-positioned to develop and deploy quickly. Action is already taking place on our part. Civitas is supporting an effort in partnership with our early adopter members alongside the Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability and our longtime research partners led by Dr. Julia Adler-Milstein at the University of California, San Francisco, to compile survey results from the latest National HIO Survey. This has been an engaged effort with all our HIEs to show how the state and regional HIE network across the country continues to evolve and is ready to meet the needs of CMS aligned networks.
Stay Tuned. Stay Engaged.
Civitas will be monitoring all this closely and will continue to play an active role in CMS’ Making Health Tech Great Again. Keep an eye out for upcoming webinars and be sure to join us at the Civitas 2025 Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA, September 28-30. There will be main stage keynote panels featuring subject matter experts and other important insights shared during our not-to-miss three-day event.
