What’s Happening at the ONC – 1-31-22

TOPICS:

Posted By: HHS/ONC/CMS Communications January 31, 2022

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

ICYMI: Updated ONC Annual Meeting Schedule
In light of the current COVID-19 surge and the challenge it is creating for many, they are making some adjustments to the Annual Meeting format for 2022.

February 2-3, 2022: Education Sessions and Office Hours

  • Learn about Information Sharing, USCDI, and more!

April 13-14, 2022: Panel Sessions, Exhibit Hall, and Networking

  • Join them for dynamic and engaging conversations about health IT and health equity, public health, patient access and advocacy, and health information exchange.

Mark your calendars and plan to join them! View additional details, including detailed agendas and registration.

SAVE THE DATE: ONC Patient Access Summit
On Friday, February 4, 2022 at 12 p.m. ET, ONC will host a summit on patient access to health information. They are assembling patients, patient advocates, providers, and policy makers to discuss a wide range of issues related to patients having access to their health information. More information coming soon!

Health IT Advisory Committee
Thursday, 2/17/22, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm ET

News and Announcements

ONC Seeks Public Comment on Electronic Prior Authorization Standards, Implementation Specifications and Certification Criteria
The ONC released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input from the public on electronic prior authorization standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria that could be adopted within the ONC Health IT Certification Program (Certification Program). Responses to this RFI may be used to inform potential future rulemaking to better enable providers to interact with health care plans and other payers for the automated, electronic completion of prior authorization tasks. Ultimately, such electronic processes will serve to ease the burden of prior authorization tasks on patients, providers, and payers.

TEFCA is Live!
The ONC and the Sequoia Project, the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE), announced the publication of the Trusted Exchange Framework and the Common Agreement (TEFCA), marking the beginning of the implementation phase. Also available is the TEFCA Health Level Seven (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR®) Roadmap, which outlines how TEFCA will accelerate the adoption of FHIR-based exchange across the industry. The RCE will host a series of webinars to help those interested in TEFCA understand how it works. Read the press release.

New: Draft USCDI v3 and Standards Bulletin Released
ONC just released Draft USCDI v3, which includes 20 new elements and 2 new data classes to advance health IT for improved care, reduced inequities, and stronger public health reporting. The latest Standards Bulletin is also released with everything you need to know about Draft USCDI v3. ONC is seeking public feedback on which data classes and elements should be included in the final USCDI v3 via the Draft USCDI v3 website. Public feedback will be accepted until April 30, 2022. ONC plans to release the final USCDI v3 this summer. Read the Draft USCDI v3. Submit Public Feedback. Read the Standards Bulletin.

Sync for Genes Phase 5: Call for Demonstration Sites
Calling all health IT companies, genomic medicine organizations and laboratories, researchers, and clinical institutions! ONC is seeking participant demonstration sites for Sync for Genes Phase 5: Standardizing genomic variant sharing and interpretation for clinical knowledge project. Sync for Genes Phase 5 focuses on improving the sharing of genomic data in the form of annotated variants between researchers, genomic laboratories, knowledge-bases, and providers with the goal of improving the interpretation of variants at the point-of-care. Sync for Genes Phase 5 will leverage resources developed by prior phases of Sync for Genes, such as the FHIR genomics specifications, semantic modeling, and standardized APIs as needed. Profiles are due by February 11, 2022. Download the Demonstration Site Profile. Read more about Sync for Genes Phase 5.

SVAP Comment Period Extended until May 2, 2022
The deadline for comments on the Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP) timeline has been extended to May 2, 2022. The current SVAP comment period was originally slated to end on September 30, 2021. This timeline will align important standards development activities with the yearly release of new United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) versions. Beginning with the current (2021) SVAP and continuing into future years, ONC will announce annual approved standards for SVAP in June to be effective in August. The June SVAP announcement and August effective date will be supported by a comment period from January to May each year. Comment today.

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!

Two Virtual Event Recordings Now Available
ONC Health IT Developer Certification & Testing Roundtable. View the recording and slides.
ONC Lantern Workshop. View the recording and slides.

Resources

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.

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.

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.