Government & Policy

The AI-powered prior auth requirements under the CMS' Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction model would increase provider burden and could harm patients since it prioritizes cost savings over medical judgment, the lawmakers say.

It is part of approved committee measures, including connecting health data across public health facilities into a national HIE platform and drafting a new Digital Health Act.

During a panel, Walensky and Chip Kahn, CEO of Federation of American Hospitals, discussed current policies they say are negatively impacting the healthcare sector.

Sarah Jaromin of the National Conference of State Legislatures says states are shaping the future of responsible AI policy, with about 200 bills nationwide currently focused on healthcare AI use.

Also, a medical school in Pakistan adopts AI systems for both classroom and hospital training.

Innovaccer will support analytics efforts by the state's PopHealth Learning Center to comply with federal quality management and performance tracking requirements under the California Equity and Practice Transforming Health Program.

Virtual care proponents are concerned about the end of pandemic-era flexibilities in 2026, but the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule gives new indications of more permanent support for telehealth.

The $50 billion in funding to be allocated annually among all states over 10 years may be insufficient, even as the RHTP could put pressure on the rural healthcare system over the long term.

The first of this two-part series looks at how limited access to agency expertise may have reduced the likelihood that states will hit the mark on their applications, which are due on Nov. 5.

The mandate? Payer-provider collaboration in data exchange. And payers must speed the prior authorization process. Courtney Yeakel, chief product officer of the Payer Unit at Veradigm, explains.