CMS Interoperability
The Health Informatics and Interoperability Group (HIIG), within the Office of Healthcare Experience and Interoperability (OHEI), oversees the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) interoperability efforts. OHEI is the home of the CMS Chief Health Informatics Officer.
Our Mission
To promote the secure exchange, access, and use of electronic health information to support better informed decision making and a more efficient healthcare system.
Our Vision
A secure, connected healthcare system that empowers patients and their providers to access and use electronic health information to make better informed and more efficient decisions.
Patients & Caregivers
Have access and use of their complete electronic health record (EHR), confidence that their care providers are communicating and coordinating their care and can engage in their own care in a more meaningful way.
Providers
Have easy access to the right patient health information at the right time to facilitate safer, better coordinated, and more efficient care.
Payers
Facilitate care coordination through the exchange of electronic health information and can make timely coverage decisions based on current and accurate information.
Researchers & Innovators
Have streamlined access to recent data to support groundbreaking studies and the development of new applications and technology.
Our Role in Advancing Interoperability
In collaboration with CMS and Office of Healthcare Experience and Interoperability (OHEI), Leadership, HIIG spearheads and coordinates CMS’ enterprise-wide interoperability strategy. HIIG:
- Develops interoperability policies that promote a Department of Health and Human Services-wide move to Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR®) application programming interfaces (APIs);
- Develops or supports pilot programs leveraging FHIR APIs to improve patient care;
- Works with standards development organizations to promote adoption of modern data standards;
- Engages with stakeholders to encourage innovation; and
- Supports CMS Offices and Centers in their efforts to build systems that enhance information exchange.
Key projects include: publishing policy, supporting the development of Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight’s advanced explanation of benefits and good faith estimates rulemaking, developing the concept of the National Directory of Healthcare Providers & Services, exploring a FHIR API for Medicare to share data with other payers, implementing Medicare Fee-for-Service Requirements Modernization, and establishing and solidifying an Interoperability Governance Framework.