Happy Easter! Congress remains on its state / district work period for the week following Easter which coincides mostly with Passover.

Govexec.com provides us with background on the President’s pick to lead the Office of Personnel Management, Ms. Dale Cabaniss. Her nomination was received by the Senate on March 5, 2019. The nomination was referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Ledger Insights provides an overview of the numerous alliances that have developed among health insurers, prescription benefit managers, and clearinghouses to implement blockchain technology.  The article adds that

NASCO has been exploring blockchain with BCBS since 2018. It has already executed a successful pilot that aimed to address several issues. For example, there are problems identifying patients across BCBS entities, stale or incomplete data, and inconsistent data formats. The ultimate goal is to make the process more efficient and improve member experiences.

“As both a co-owner and customer of NASCO, we recognize the value of interoperability as a key pillar of our strategy,” said Bill Fandrich, Senior Vice President and CIO for BCBSM. “Our recent success leveraging blockchain, in partnership with several other Blue plans [and NASCO] in the [new] Coalesce Health Alliance, is one step in that journey.