What’s Happening at the ONC – 07-19-21

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Posted By: HHS/ONC/CMS Communications July 19, 2021

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.

Events

Clinical Decision Support (CDS) for Advancing Person-Centered Care and Health Equity
When: Tuesday, July 27, 2021 | 10:00am -1:15pm ET
All-virtual
Register for this event.

Join the ONC for a CDS workshop. For many years, clinical decision support has played a vital role in improving/enhancing the delivery of effective patient care among healthcare providers. As artificial intelligence is advancing CDS tools, speakers will discuss how they are addressing bias in these tools during the development phase and implementation to support equity in healthcare. Several federal agencies will share how they are using CDS to improve health care and advancing CDS in their respective portfolios. The workshop will close with an open discussion on ways to improve the development and use of CDS considering various populations and the added value it provides for such tools.

Health IT Advisory Committee
Thursday, 09/09/2021, 9:30 AM

Save The Date! – 2021 ONC Virtual Tech Forum –  September 16-17, 2021

News and Announcements

United States Core Data for Interoperability Version 2 Published
The United States Core Data for Interoperability v2 (USCDI v2) is now available. USCDI v2 has new data classes and elements that will support the sharing of gender identity, sexual orientation, social determinants of health, and other data in health IT. The USCDI helps to standardize data elements, providing a roadmap for health IT developers to build products and solutions that can help improve health outcomes at both the individual and population level. Check Out USCDI v2.

Standards Bulletin Provides Insights into USCDI Version 2
Check out the latest issue of ONC’s Standards Bulletin for insights into the USCDI v2. This edition should help you understand USCDI v2’s new data elements that will help advance health equity with the inclusion of sexual orientation, gender identity, and social determinants of health data elements. Additionally, it describes ONC’s vision for the future expansion of USCDI through Version 3, and how you can engage and make an impact!

Help ONC Define Health Interoperability Outcomes for the Next Decade
ONC kicked off the “Health Interoperability Outcomes 2030” effort to hear how you define what successful interoperability looks like over the next decade. Share your thoughts and submissions by visiting HealthIT.gov or by sharing with the ONC on Twitter using #HealthInterop2030. Submissions are open through July 30, 2021.

Comment Period Open: DRAFT v1.0 of the Project US@ Technical Specification
The comment period for the recently released the DRAFT v1.0 of the Project US@ Technical Specification is open until July 31, 2021. Project US@ seeks to issue a unified, cross-standards, healthcare industry-wide specification for representing patient addresses. Read the ONC Health IT Buzz Blog post to learn more.

Notice Of Funding Opportunity: PHIT Workforce Development Program
As part of the American Rescue Plan, ONC recently announced an $80 million Public Health Informatics & Technology (PHIT) Workforce Development Program. The PHIT Workforce Program aims to train more than 4,000 individuals over a four-year period through an interdisciplinary approach in public health informatics and technology. Under the PHIT Workforce Development Program, ONC is inviting college and universities — particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs) — to apply for funding being made available to help implement or expand training, certificate, and degree programs in public health informatics and data science. Submissions are due by August 11, 2021. ONC hosted an informational webinar about the program. Watch the recorded presentation and learn more.

Social Determinants of Health were a Common Theme at the 2021 ONC Annual Meeting
SDOH were a recurring theme throughout the sessions at this year’s ONC Annual Meeting. A Health IT Buzz Blog post highlights a panel of health information exchange experts from around the country who discussed the challenges, progress, and key takeaways in integrating SDOH data with patients’ electronic health records. Watch Annual Meeting Sessions On-Demand.

ONC Health IT Certification Program New Resource Available
The ONC Health IT Certification Program has released a new fact sheet for Real World Testing requirements of the ONC Cures Act Final Rule. The fact sheet describes Real World Testing requirements for Health IT Developers participating in the ONC Health IT Certification Program. This resource will assist the Health IT Developer community in understanding how the requirements outlined in the ONC 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule apply to them and provide a practical overview of the Real World Testing Condition and Maintenance of Certification requirements. View the Fact Sheet.

Resources

Health Records

New Pediatric Resource Available
ONC recently released the Pediatric Health Information Technology: Pediatric Healthcare Provider Informational Resource (Healthcare Provider IR) to support the implementation of health IT products used by clinicians that provide healthcare for children. The Developer and Healthcare Provider IRs identify ONC’s ten recommendations for health IT for pediatric care, relevant certification criteria within the ONC Health IT Certification Program, and other information to support the implementation of health IT products to support the safe and effective healthcare of children. Learn more.

Updates to the SRA Tool
ONC, in partnership with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently released an update to the HHS Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool. This tool provides support for small- and medium-sized health care organizations in their efforts to assess security risks. This enhanced version of the SRA Tool includes a variety of new features like improved navigation throughout the assessment sections, export options for reports, and enhanced user interface scaling. Download SRA Tool.

New Resources to Address the Privacy and Security of Health Data Used in Research
ONC has released the final report of the Privacy and Security Framework for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) project. The report highlights a framework and resources that support the responsible use of health data for PCOR. Learn more about how these resources can support stakeholders as they navigate the complexities of sharing health data for research and better protect patient data in the final report. Read the Final Report.

ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule Webinars & Resources
As of June 30, 2020, ONC’s 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule is effective. Please visit 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program, for detailed information about the rule. ONC recently completed a series of question-and-answer webinars on ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule. All webinars were recorded. Visit the Cures Rule website to view all the webinar recordings, slide presentations, and resources about the Final Rule.

Tools and Resources for the Health IT Community
To support HHS’s ongoing response efforts to the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), ONC is partnering with the CDC to direct the health IT community and healthcare providers to various resources for reporting and tracking of coronavirus disease or COVID-19. Visit HealthIT.gov for more.

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:

Spotlighting Interoperability Proving Ground Programs

The Interoperability Proving Ground (IPG) is an open, community platform where you can share, learn, and be inspired by interoperability projects taking place across the nation. ONC is asking those working on COVID-19 interoperability projects to share your project on the IPG and tag it with #COVID-19. We’re reviewing every entry to identify opportunities for connection and collaboration among the community on these critical efforts.

The Interoperability Proving Ground (IPG) Spotlight project of the week is: A HIPAA Compliant, Interdisciplinary Collaboration Tool for Front-Line Clinicians: TrekIT – Created by clinicians for clinicians at Penn Medicine, TrekIT is a HIPAA compliant clinical workflow tool that was built to enable seamless team-based collaboration across every provider in every setting and requires no IT resources to deploy. To support the medical community during this time of extreme strain, we are offering TrekIT free of charge to our colleagues on the front-lines.

Learn how your interoperability project can be featured as an IPG Spotlight by visiting the Interoperability Proving Ground (IPG). Once a project is submitted or updated, projects will automatically be added to the feature queue to be randomly selected as a featured project.

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.