What’s Happening at the ONC – 2-28-22

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Posted By: HHS/ONC/CMS Communications February 28, 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

TEFCA: Register for RCE Stakeholder Sessions
TEFCA is here! ONC and the Sequoia Project, the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE), recently announced the publication of the Trusted Exchange Framework and the Common Agreement (TEFCA), marking the beginning of the implementation phase. The RCE and ONC are hosting public advisory forums for community and stakeholder input as TEFCA is implemented. Don’t miss these upcoming webinars!

ONC Health IT Certification Program Developer Roundtable
When: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 11:30 am – 1:00 pm ET
Register for this event.

Join the ONC Health IT Certification Program in the second of a series of quarterly roundtable meetings for health IT developers. This is a public meeting that is 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 program updates, certification deadlines, and developer requirements.

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

ICYMI: Updated ONC Annual Meeting Schedule

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. Follow the conversation! #ONC2022

News and Announcements

New Information Sharing FAQ
ONC issued a new Frequently Asked Question (FAQ): In which patient-access cases does the Preventing Harm Exception recognize “substantial harm”? (IB.FAQ42.1.2022FEB) This FAQ includes a table showing the type of harm recognized under the Preventing Harm Exception for different patient access scenarios where the risk of harm has been determined on an individual basis. ONC continues to make resources available to help stakeholders understand information sharing and promote the secure access, exchange, and use of EHI. Review the FAQ.

Cures Act EHR Reporting Program Draft Measures
In the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, Congress mandated the establishment of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Reporting Program as part of new Conditions and Maintenance of Certification requirements under the ONC Health IT Certification Program. The purpose of these developer measures is to address information gaps in the health IT marketplace and provide insights on how certified health IT is being used. For the initial set of measures, ONC is focusing on interoperability, with an emphasis on patient access, clinical and public health information exchange, and standards adoption and conformance measures. Together, these measures will provide stakeholders with a clear picture of our dynamic and evolving health information ecosystem. In December 2021, ONC’s contractors delivered a set of final draft measures for developer reporting to ONC. The measures in the report will be used to inform ONC’s future rulemaking to implement the EHR Reporting Program as a Conditions and Maintenance of Certification requirement for certified health IT products. Review the Final Report and the Draft Measure.

ONC Issues Request for Information (RFI)
ONC issued an RFI on January 21, 2022 seeking input from the public about electronic prior authorization standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria that could be adopted within the ONC Health IT Certification Program. Responses to this RFI could be used to inform potential future rulemaking to better enable providers to interact with health care payers for the automated, electronic completion of prior authorization tasks. Comments are due by March 25. Learn More.

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

Deadline Extended – Request for Information (RFI)
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has extended the deadline to March 31, 2022 for a recently released RFI. Calling all social workers, religious organizations, community health centers, telehealth practitioners and peer recovery specialists: the White House OSTP seeks to develop digital health care services that emphasize equity in treatment! Visit the Federal Register to Learn More.

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.