“You know nothing. In fact, you know less than nothing. If you knew that you knew nothing, then that would be something, but you don’t.” This is not what Melania Trump said to reporters in her impromptu press conference about how there is nothing to know about her non-relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. It is what the boss says to the new L.A.-based FBI recruit, Johnny Utah, played by Keanu Reeves in the 1991 film Point Break. The classic surfer film is what came to mind this week as we experienced a new wave of health IT policy. More in the One Thoughtful Paragraph below.
Other fresh waves of health policy news this week:
- In a new wave of activity since returning to its blessedly shorter abbreviation, the HHS Office of National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (“ONC”) plans to host a full day, virtual roundtable to discuss how the expansion of health IT can improve care in mental health and substance use on April 20, 2026. ONC also announced that its Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC), the agency’s public-private advisory group, will hold its second meeting of the year on May 7, 2026.
- In a new wave of making data available, CMS announced the release of public, open, and machine-readable formatted data with the intention of promoting fraud, waste, and abuse detection. The data will include Original Medicare and Medicaid utilization and prices across providers, prescribers, and suppliers.
- There was a recent wave of proof that the FDA is still interested in regulating medical devices. The FDA denied a Harrison.ai request for a streamlined 510(k) approval pathway for manufacturers of certain AI-powered diagnostic devices with at least one prior clearance. And then, the next day, the FDA released a 135-page report documenting examples of real-world data (RWD) used in medical device regulatory decision-making. See? Totally still regulating medical devices.
Welcome to Sea World, Kid. That’s how actor Gary Busey, playing the old-timer FBI agent in Point Break, introduces the new guy to the weird world of policing surfers-turned-bank-robbers in the 1991 film. It is such a cult classic that Ironman / Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) uses “Point Break” as the sarcastic nickname for the long-haired, shredded-like-a-surfer Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) in The Avengers Marvel movie a full 20 years later. These are the movies that naturally came to mind when CMS announced it would livestream its “First Wave Launch” of the Health Tech Ecosystem app library this week. Some 48 companies joined the agency in its push to help Medicare beneficiaries access tech tools to keep them healthy and well. None of them seem to be about surfing, but there are apps that can monitor and manage chronic conditions, help patients navigate care options and schedule appointments, and replace the paper-based check-in process at doctors’ offices. This is just the first wave in what CMS is hoping will be a whole ocean of available tools to make the health care system better for our 65+ patients. As the average life expectancy extends well into the mid-70’s, the Medicare app library shows the same wisdom of Simon Kuper’s latest Financial Times article, where he concludes that our health system / medical research should be focused on how to “add life to years, not years to life.” It is the kind of wisdom that Johnny Utah shows for his buddy, the robber-surfer character in the Point Break movie, who would rather ride a death-inducing wave than stay alive and go to prison: Vaya con Dios!
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