15 jun Health Data News Roundup: payer satisfaction low; MA Star Ratings court case; and payers shift to Data Intelligence. Welcome to the Health Data Weekly News Roundup from IMAT Solutions. This week's healthcare data news highlights growing pressure on health plans to improve member satisfaction, maximize the value of healthcare data investments, and support quality and care delivery initiatives. From Medicare Advantage trends and Star Ratings scrutiny to digital health records and data intelligence strategies, organizations across the healthcare ecosystem continue to focus on turning healthcare data into meaningful business and clinical outcomes. JD Power: Consumers Are Less Satisfied with Their Health Plans A JD Power study found that consumers are increasingly unhappy with their health plans despite an industry-wide push among major insurers to rehabilitate their image, according to Healthcare Dive. Could a Court Ruling Upend Medicare Advantage Star Ratings? A recent court ruling involving Medicare Advantage Star Ratings is raising questions about how CMS calculates plan quality scores and bonus payments, highlighting the growing importance of transparency, measurement integrity, and trusted data in quality reporting programs, according to Healthcare Innovation. Medicare Advantage in 2026: Enrollment Update and Key Trends Medicare Advantage enrollment continued to grow in 2026, reaching more than 35 million beneficiaries, though growth has slowed compared to previous years as the market matures and plans face increasing financial and operational pressures, according to KFF. AHIP 2026: Why Ascendiun CEO Paul Markovich is Bullish on Building Out a Digital Health Record for Patients During AHIP 2026, Ascendiun CEO Paul Markovich argued that the future of healthcare will be defined not by how much data is exchanged, but by how effectively that data can be unified, accessed, and used to improve care delivery and patient outcomes, according to Fierce Healthcare. UT Health San Antonio Named Among Becker's Top 50 ACOs to Know UT Health San Antonio was recently named as one of the "Top 50 ACOs to Know" by Becker's Hospital Review, a national recognition of its commitment to improving outcomes for traditional Medicare patients in the community, according to this press announcement. Why Health Plans Are Shifting Focus from Data Exchange to Data Intelligence Health plans are increasingly focused on transforming healthcare data into actionable intelligence that supports quality improvement, risk adjustment, care management, and AI readiness to maximize returns on their health IT investments, according to this recent IMAT blog post. These healthcare data trends highlight a common theme across the industry: the need to transform healthcare data into actionable intelligence. Whether improving member experiences, supporting value-based care, strengthening quality programs, enabling digital health records, or driving operational efficiency, organizations are increasingly focused on ensuring that data is trusted, accessible, and usable across the enterprise. As healthcare continues to evolve, the ability to operationalize data effectively will remain a key differentiator for both payers and providers.

Dr. Rebecca Jones: sharing community engagement strategies for cancer control. Dr. Rebecca Jones, assistant director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, shared important community engagement strategies at the 2026 AACI Catchment Area Data Excellence (CADEx) Conference on March 9, 2026, in Atlanta. The event brought together National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center data experts, geospatial statisticians, and representatives from government and industry to address emerging topics in cancer prevention and control analytics. Jones was part of a panel that explored how to use catchment-area data to improve access and outcomes. "Panelists discussed how data inform their choices, focusing on the importance of community engagement for understanding where barriers exist and how access can be improved. Listening sessions were one strategy they cited as an effective way to learn directly from community partners," according to AACI. Dr. Rebecca Jones and presentation at AACI CADEx Conference. At the CADEx conference, Jones shared that "listening sessions" are an effective strategy for discovering community perceptions and needs. The Mays Cancer Center's Cancer Outreach and Engagement team conducts listening sessions as guided conversations with community members to learn about how people perceive the local cancer burden, the best methods for sharing information about cancer, and patients' cancer care experiences. "For example, Dr. Jones and her colleagues learned that residents who live in urban areas and further inland from the U.S.-Mexico border have different cancer-related access needs," according to AACI. "Individuals who live in urban areas further away from the border perceive access as the ability to get a timely appointment and clinic operating hours, while individuals who live in rural areas along the border view barriers to access from a perspective that incorporates distance, costs, and immigration status. In some instances, this perspective has influenced individuals who choose to receive cancer-related care in Mexico." "Though individual cancer centers have little to no control over issues of financial toxicity, cancer centers have an important role to play in advocating for local, state, and federal policies that make cancer screening and treatment more affordable. This is especially important for accruing patients to clinical trials. For instance, clinical trial participants may receive access to treatments that are not covered by health insurance, and costs associated with travel and missed work are key considerations for many patients." Dr. Rebecca Jones and her cancer research. Jones has over 10 years of experience in program evaluation, research design, and statistical analyses. Her areas of focus include health systems research and non-medical drivers of health. At the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, she helps with these projects: * Leading the Creando Conexiones project to develop a research agenda that outlines patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (PC-CER) priorities. * Co-leading a research scholar project on improving colorectal cancer screening adherence as part of the ACS Avanzando Center, which aims to address non-medical drivers of health and improve cancer care across the cancer care continuum for South Texans and beyond. * Helping with the San Antonio Firefighters Cancer Prevention Program, a collaboration of the San Antonio Fire Department, UT Health San Antonio, and Sylvester's Firefighter Cancer Initiative at the University of Miami to better understand and reduce the burden of cancer among local first responders. * Coordinating the Community Outreach and Engagement team at the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, an NCI-designated Cancer Center. * Hosting the Salud America! Salud Talks podcast episode on colon cancer and participating in its webinar on community cancer needs. Dr. Rebecca Jones and her background in Public health. Jones has a doctorate in Applied Demography from the School of Public Policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She also holds a MS in Health and Kinesiology with an emphasis in community health and biostatistics from UTSA. She also has a BS in Kinesiology with an emphasis in physiology from UTSA. Jones grew up in South Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley.