Shannon Sartin, executive director of digital service at the Department of Health and Human Services, said that expanding information technology may have positive and negative impact on the federal healthcare system, Nextgov reported Monday.
Having too many systems running within HHS could increase challenges to healthcare providers, such as additional administrative tasks, which could lead to impersonal, inefficient and expensive care, Sartin said. However, the director noted expanded IT may also offer benefits. It could give the public an increased control of their health and help doctors focus on treatment.
Sartin cited the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services utilizes IT modernization to serve over 100 million people across the U.S. CMS takes advantage of new healthcare technologies by updating IT infrastructure and making healthcare data accessible. Other modernization offers at HHS include the launch of the Blue Button 2.0 app interface that provides detailed health information on 53 million Medicare recipients. Sartin and her team also unveiled a new platform to accelerate payments to doctors as well as feedback on their services.
