By Seth Pazinski, Peter Karras, and Dustin Charles, ONC
LinkedIn: Seth Pazinski
LinkedIn: Peter Karras, MBA, PMP
LinkedIn: Dustin Charles
LinkedIn: ONC
The draft 2024–2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan [PDF – 2.3 MB] (the draft Plan) is now open for public comment. The public comment period on the draft Plan ends on May 28, 2024 at 11:59:59 PM ET.
The draft Plan is a comprehensive and strategic effort developed by ONC in collaboration with more than 25 federal organizations.
The preceding 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan promoted a modern health IT infrastructure and drove significant progress across government and industry to advance the access, exchange, and use of electronic health information (EHI). The 2024–2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan seeks to build upon this progress and includes an increased emphasis in areas such as public health, health equity, and artificial intelligence (AI).
ONC and its federal partners addressed several considerations to ensure the draft Plan’s effectiveness and relevance in an ever-evolving health care landscape. For example, to address the challenges presented during the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft Plan identifies technological gaps and opportunities to modernize public health data systems.
Additionally, the draft Plan recognizes the current persistent disparities in health care access and outcomes and therefore, seeks to promote equitable access to EHI and communications technology, fair representation in research endeavors, and ensure that equity is built in by design to health IT.
Lastly, the draft Plan acknowledges the swift evolution of AI and increased use in health care, emphasizing the urgent need for the federal government to navigate this transformative landscape both responsibly and effectively in health and health care.
What are the Goals and Objectives of the draft Plan?
The draft Plan is deliberately outcomes-driven, with goals and objectives focused on improving access to EHI, delivering a better, more equitable health care experience, and modernizing our nation’s public health infrastructure. The goals are divided into distinct categories, with goals 1 through 3 addressing plans to improve the experiences and outcomes for health IT users, while goal 4 is focused on the policies and technologies needed to support those users.
How will the final 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan be used?
This Plan is intended to serve as a roadmap for federal health IT initiatives and activities, and as a catalyst for activities in the private sector. Specifically, the final Plan will help to:
- Prioritize resources within federal agencies
- Align and coordinate federal health IT initiatives and activities
- Signal priorities to the private sector
- Benchmark and assess progress of federal health IT initiatives and activities
Submit your Feedback
Please help inform the federal government’s health IT and EHI sharing direction by submitting your feedback on the draft 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan.
This article was originally published on the Health IT Buzz and is syndicated here with permission.