An estimated 1,400 developers are using CMS' application programming interface Blue Button 2.0 to create apps geared toward improving Medicare patients' EHR access, FedScoop reports.
The API, which CMS launched last year, allows third-party apps and services to connect to and analyze Medicare claims data. It also lets Medicare's beneficiaries grant the app developers access to their medical records, according to the report.
"We are obviously on a journey to improve healthcare, and technology and sharing of data underpin [everything]," CMS CIO Rajiv Uppal told FedScoop. "Without data to track patient progress or understand quality, insurance companies cannot tie payments to outcomes."
During CMS' Blue Button 2.0 Developer Conference in August, Seema Verma, the agency's administrator, highlighted potential uses for apps developed with the API, including flagging harmful drug interactions or alerting clinicians when a patient has already undergone particular testing.