Federal health officials due to speak at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society meeting in Las Vegas next week have dropped out of the key health tech industry conference.
Even as the Trump administration focuses on fraud, waste, and abuse, government officials aren’t allowed to tell the public about their programs aimed at preventing fraud, waste, and misuse in Medicare telehealth and remote patient monitoring programs. A panel focused on that topic featuring two officials from the Office of the Inspector General under the Department of Health and Human Services — though still on the agenda at the time of publication — is cancelled.
“HHS-OIG officials will not be attending the summit in-person due to a pause on external event travel and thus have cancelled the [learning] session,” an OIG spokesperson told STAT in an email. The HIMSS cancellations range across health agencies — including the Food and Drug Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ARPA-H, and Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP). At least 46 federal health officials were scheduled to participate, according to the conference agenda, at least 27 of whom had been scrubbed from the schedule or were confirmed by STAT to no longer be attending.
This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers
Unlock this article — and get additional analysis of the technologies disrupting health care — by subscribing to STAT+.
Already have an account? Log in