Traveling Health Data

What If Your Health Info Traveled as Easily as You Do? CMS Says It Should

 

When CMS and ONC dropped their joint Request for Information (RFI) on May 13, 2025, the message was loud and clear: it’s time to build a healthcare system that works for patients, not just around them.

At its core, this RFI isn’t just about APIs, mandates, or modernization. It’s about something far more fundamental: how we give people meaningful access to their own health information.

 

A Turning Point for Digital Health Equity

For years, interoperability has been a goal—an elusive one. But this RFI signals a shift: from passive access to proactive empowerment. CMS is calling on payers, providers, developers, and advocates to help redesign the digital infrastructure of Medicare with one goal in mind: to make healthcare tools more usable, accessible, and equitable.

The priorities?

• Removing barriers to digital health access
• Expanding real-time data portability between payers and providers
• Minimizing administrative burden for both clinicians and patients
• Designing tools that everyone—including older adults and underserved populations—can use

This isn’t optional. It’s the new operating system for healthcare.

 

So… Now What?

If you’re a health plan or provider, you might be wondering what actionable steps to take. Policy is one thing. Practice is another.

That’s where we come in.

 

The Health Access ID Card: Turning Policy Into Practice

At AaNeel, we’ve spent years building for this moment. Our Health Access ID Card ® isn’t just a product—it’s a practical response to CMS’s call for innovation.

This patient-owned, digitally enabled health identity allows any individual to securely share their complete medical history—with just one tap.

Here’s how it delivers on CMS’s vision:

• Digital Wallet Integration – Easily stored on mobile devices, no app required
• Tap-to-Share – Send medications, provider info, lab results, and more in seconds
• Secure and HIPAA-Compliant – With encryption, one-time passcodes, and patient-controlled access
• Dual-Use Functionality – It’s both an insurance ID and a longitudinal health record
• FHIR-Ready – Fully compatible with emerging interoperability standards and payer APIs

And here’s the real differentiator: it puts patients in control.

 

Real Interoperability Starts with the Individual

Let’s be honest—patients don’t care about FHIR specs or ONC rules. They care about not having to repeat their medical history six times. They care about their medications being up to date. They care about receiving the right care without delays or duplicate tests.

The Health Access ID Card makes that possible. It removes friction at every stage—from intake to authorization to follow-up care—while giving payers and providers the clean, structured data they need to reduce costs and improve outcomes.

 

A National Imperative—and a Market Opportunity

Interoperability isn’t just a compliance checkbox. It’s a $100B+ opportunity to:

• Improve member experience and retention
• Accelerate authorizations and risk adjustment
• Reduce redundant care and avoidable utilization

The health plans and providers who lean into this shift now will be the ones leading the next generation of patient engagement.

 

What’s Next?

CMS is listening. This RFI is just the beginning. But the time to align with where healthcare is going isn’t later—it’s now.

At AaNeel, we’re not just watching the evolution of interoperability. We’re driving it.

The Health Access ID Card is our answer to the question the RFI didn’t explicitly ask, but implied at every turn:

How do we make health data work for people, not the other way around?

Let’s do more than talk about patient-centered care. Let’s build it—one tap at a time.

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Explore the Health Access Card and see what true connectivity looks like
👉 www.healthaccesscard.com