By Mike Berry, ONC
Twitter: @ONC_HealthIT
The Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) plays an important role in ONC activities and objectives. Required by the 21st Century Cures Act, the HITAC has been operational since 2018 and represents a wide range of health IT stakeholders who inform ONC’s policies and programs.
The HITAC recommends policies, standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria to the national coordinator across four target areas: interoperability, privacy and security, patient access to information, and use of technologies that support public health.
The HITAC had a busy 2021! In total, the HITAC held 10 full committee meetings including a Public Health Data Systems Hearing, 67 subcommittee meetings, produced 133 recommendations, and welcomed two new members. Check out this HITAC infographic [PDF – 4.4 MB] for more details.
What’s New for the HITAC in 2022
The HITAC will be just as busy in 2022! So far, we’ve welcomed 8 new members. View their full bios.
- Medell Briggs-Malonson, MD, MPH, MSHS
- Hans Buitendijk
- Steve Eichner
- Rajesh Godavarthi, MS
- Hung Luu, MD
- Aaron Neinstein, MD
- Eliel Oliveira, MS, MBA
- Fillipe Southerland
And we’ve got several new HITAC subcommittees teed up for this year, with two already underway:
- The e-Prior Authorization Request for Information (RFI) Task Force is charged with providing input and recommendations in response to the ONC RFI.
- The Interoperability Standards Workgroup is charged with evaluating and providing recommendations on the Draft USCDI Version 3 and other interoperability standards and identifying opportunities to update the ONC Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) to address the HITAC priority uses of health IT, including related standards and implementation specifications.
Later this year, we anticipate engaging a new Task Force to review and provide recommendations pending the release of ONC’s planned Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
We are thankful to have an esteemed group of passionate individuals who volunteer their time and efforts to help advance the adoption of health IT and the promotion of nationwide, standards-based health information exchange to improve health care for all.
How Can You Get Involved?
Glad you asked. All HITAC meetings are open to the public, and we encourage interested parties to participate during the public comment portion of each meeting. View all committee meetings, learn about current and past Task Forces, and review past recommendations on HealthIT.gov.
This article was originally published on the Health IT Buzz and is syndicated here with permission.