Public Comment Letter: Advancing Health Equity by Design through Health IT
On June 10, 2024, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) submitted a letter to the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ASTP/ONC) in response to the agency's proposed approach to “Advance Health Equity by Design (HEBD) and Health IT.”
In the letter CareFirst emphasized that health equity can best be achieved through a modernized technology infrastructure driven by leading industry standards and health information exchange platforms that make health information readily accessible to patients, providers and payers.
We stressed access to data that represents all communities based on national standards empowers payers and providers to incorporate HEBD by:
- accurately quantifying existing disparities and addressing them more directly,
- driving the right interventions for the right people at the right time,
- actively leaning into new and long-standing relationships with community organizations to address root causes of inequities, and
- advocating for public policies to improve access to health coverage.
Read the full comment letter from CareFirst here.