What’s Happening at the ONC – 06/12/23

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Posted By: HHS/ONC/CMS Communications June 12, 2023

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is at the forefront of the administration’s health IT efforts and is a resource to the entire health system to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care. ONC is organizationally located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Here is what they are doing and reporting. Follow them @ONC_HealthIT. Sign up for their email updates.

News & Announcements

Deadline Extended: New Updates on the eCQI Resource Center – USCDI+ Quality Update
The comment submission deadline for the USCDI+ Quality data element list has been extended to Friday, June 30 by 11:59 pm ET! ONC requests feedback on this first draft of the data element list, particularly on its level of completeness, level of specificity, and usefulness of companion guidance.

ONC’s USCDI+ initiative builds on the United States Core Data for Interoperability model to address the need for harmonized data elements for a wider set of use cases than USCDI, especially priority use cases across federal agencies. Over the past year, ONC and its partners, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, developed a draft USCDI+ data element list for quality measurement (USCDI+ Quality) to serve as a baseline dataset to support electronically reported quality measures. Comment now.

Progress and Ongoing Challenges to Electronic Public Health Reporting Among Non-Federal Acute Care Hospitals
A new ONC Data Brief (#66) shows progress in hospitals’ rates of electronic reporting since 2021 and highlights challenges that may hinder hospital capacity to contribute timely and accurate data to support PHAs’ ability to effectively respond to current and future public health emergencies.

ONC Selects Spire Communications and Apprio To Redesign HealthIT.gov
Spire Communications and Apprio have been selected to lead the effort to overhaul the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) website, HealthIT.gov. The project will streamline and enhance how ONC educates clinicians, patients, payers, software developers, and others as it sets the standards for developing and implementing health information technology (IT) solutions and achieving interoperability in service of better healthcare.

Events

ONC SDOH Information Exchange Learning Forum Summary

When: Thursday, June 29, 2023 12:00 pm ET
Register for this event.

Join the ONC’s Social Determinants of Health Information Exchange Learning Forum, which will bring together health care providers, community-based organizations, government, payers, health information exchange networks, IT platform developers, innovators, and other partners to share lessons learned, promising practices, and challenges related to exchanging SDOH data. The SDOH Information Exchange Learning Forum Summary webinar will provide a recap of information and learnings shared through the webinar series.

ONC Tech Forum: Clinical Decision Support Series

Multiple Dates

In this new series, come learn about clinical decision support (CDS) from the ONC team and real-world implementers. They will kick things off with a session looking at the future of CDS and how it can be used on the ground. Future sessions will explore incorporating guidelines into CDS and understanding the value in using CDS.

New in 2023 – The ONC Tech Forum is back in 2023, although with a slightly different look. Instead of a single event, ONC will now host Tech Forum workshops throughout the year, giving you multiple opportunities to learn about how we can advance health technology to improve patient care, health equity, data exchange, and interoperability.

Registration for the next session opens June 19th!

ONC Health IT Certification Program Developer Roundtable

When: Wednesday, July 12, 2023 1:00 pm ET
Register for this event.

These quarterly public meetings are open to all health IT developers, regardless of their participation in the ONC Health IT Certification Program. During these meetings, ONC leads discussions tailored for the health IT developer community on topics such as Certification Program updates, upcoming certification deadlines, and developer requirements.

Save the Date

ONC 2023 Annual Meeting Happening December 14-15 in Washington DC

Resources

21st Century Cures Act Summary

The 21st Century Cures Act, signed December 13, 2016, by President Obama, promotes and funds the acceleration of research into preventing and curing serious illnesses; accelerates drug and medical device development; attempts to address the opioid abuse crisis; and tries to improve mental health service delivery. The Act includes a number of provisions that push for greater interoperability, adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and support for human services programs.

Certification of Health IT

The ONC Health IT Certification Program (Certification Program) ensures that Certified Health Information Technology meets the technological capability, functionality, and security requirements adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI)

The United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) is a standardized set of health data classes and constituent data elements for nationwide, interoperable health information exchange. Review the USCDI Fact Sheet to learn more.

TEFCA

The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) establishes a universal policy and technical floor for nationwide interoperability; simplifies connectivity for organizations to securely exchange information to improve patient care, enhance the welfare of populations, and generate health care value; and enables individuals to gather their healthcare information. The Common Agreement establishes the infrastructure model and the governing approach for users in different networks to securely share basic clinical information under commonly agreed-to expectations and rules.

Read

From the Health IT Buzz Blog – Learn more about HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Check out the latest blog posts:

ONC Interoperability Pledge

Companies that provide 90 percent of electronic health records used by hospitals nationwide as well as the top five largest health care systems in the country have agreed to implement three core commitments: Consumer Access, No Blocking/Ensuring Transparency, and Standards. The ONC (@ONC_HealthIT) wants vendors to sign a pledge. Is your vendor pledging? Find out who is on the list.