November 11, 2022
Updated: Nov 13, 2022
Maverick's Update
Only What Matters In Health Information Policy
What a big week for women in America! Of course, we are talking about the release of two female-driven films: the second Enola Holmes movie, and the sequel to the Black Panther movie. Just released on Netflix, Enola Holmes 2 tells the story of the 1888 all-female-led Matchgirls’ Strike, that protested -- successfully -- abysmal working conditions in a London factory. In theaters today, Wakanda Forever features four strong woman characters (in place of a male protagonist) who are navigating how to lead while still in mourning for the character played by (and the real-life tragic loss of) Chadwick Boseman. This is an appropriate entertainment backdrop during a week that saw a historic number of female governors elected to office. We explain in the One Thoughtful Paragraph how women are also a power center driving the the future of digital health.
Other powerful news in health information policy this week:
CMS announced public comment opportunities about SDOH screening questions (i.e., housing stability, food insecurity, and transportation) for Medicare Advantage plan health assessments.
HHS published a proposed rule to modify HIPAA for the purpose of updating standards for retail pharmacy transactions (NCPDP standards) to allow for more robust data exchange.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), co-founder of the U.S. Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, released a new policy paper calling for the appointment of a federal healthcare cybersecurity leader and new policies to protect health systems and patients from cyberattacks.
One Thoughtful Paragraph
There are strikingly strong female characters featured in Wakanda Forever and Enola Holmes 2, leading with their intellectual and physical power and not a small amount of humor. On this Veterans Day, we give thanks to a strikingly strong female leader who is defending our country against health care cybersecurity threats -- U.S. Army Veteran Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Other women who have found their way to the top of the health care industry are being recognized for their powerful stories. And as we anticipate the HLTH conference in Las Vegas that will feature health care innovators and the funders who love them, we point to this week’s news about venture capital firm RH Capital that just raised $38.5 million for their portfolio of women’s health-focused start-ups. RH Capital supports digital health companies like Nurx, a telehealth provider for women, and Ovia Health, a Labcorp digital health subsidiary that offers apps to help manage maternity and family benefits. As this mid-term election shows, this is a new era of focus on women’s health. To help us prepare, consider this line spoken by the incomparable Danai Gurira, who plays Okoye -- the head of the Black Panther bodyguards, in the new Wakanda Forever movie : “Our foremothers gave us the spear because it is precise, elegant, and deadly. It will not change under my watch.”
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