Research funding cuts put healthcare in a ‘shaky period,’ says HIMSS CEO

HIMSS President and CEO speaks at a press conference during HIMSS25.

Susan Morse/Healthcare Finance News, HIMSS

LAS VEGAS – HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf addressed funding cuts for medical research during a press conference at HIMSS25 here on Tuesday.

“I think we’re at the beginning of a very shaky period,” Wolf said. “I think that we’re all concerned.”

Fifty percent of healthcare in the United States is funded by the federal government, he said. This includes Medicare and Medicaid.

However, Wolf said, the strength of the system has always been in taking the long term.

A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the cuts, according to Reuters.

Trump’s pick to head the National Institute of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, is expected to be confirmed following a Senate hearing. If confirmed, Bhattacharya would oversee a nearly $50 billion budget and funding for thousands of scientific projects. The NIH director oversees 27 institutes and centers that conduct early-stage research, according to Reuters.

For hospitals, the biggest challenge is the workforce shortage. Wolf estimated a shortage of 8-9 million people on a global basis. 

Hospitals need to turn to digital health. Digital health allows care to be extended into the home.

Healthcare comes down to an anomaly, Wolf said. When an anomaly is found,  people are put on care pathways.

Helping this search for what’s not normal are devices and watches that allow people to monitor their own health.

Nurses are now doing work formerly done by physicians.

“Now we have to stretch those resources and that’s where digital health comes in,” Wolf said.

Flexibilities for remote patient monitoring and telehealth – which allow for care in the home including acute care, will end on March 31 without Congressional action.

HIMSS is involved in getting these flexibility extended, Wolf said. 

An estimated 28,000 people are attending HIMSS25 in Las Vegas, he said. Last year a little over 26,000 people attended HIMSS24.

Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org