What’s Happening at the ONC – 5-10-19

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin May 10, 2019

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

21st Century Cures Act Proposed Rule: Comment Period Extended to June 3, 2019
The public comment period for the ONC 21st Century Cures Act proposed rule has been extended an additional 30 days. Comments are due June 3, 2019.

ONC Wants your Feedback on New Test Procedures: The draft test procedures that were developed to accompany the proposed certification criteria in the proposed rule are now available and we want to hear your feedback. Extended review period: please review by June 3, 2019.

OCR HIPAA Right of Access FAQs: The HHS Office for Civil Rights released FAQs about the HIPAA right of access as it relates to apps designated by individual patients and application programming interfaces used by a healthcare provider’s electronic health record system.

NEW: ONC Healthcare Directory Workshop
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) will host a Healthcare Directory Workshop on June 13-14. This workshop is a follow-up to the previous workshop hosted by ONC and the Federal Health Architecture (FHA) in April 2016. The 2019 Workshop will assess advances in provider directory standards and focus on the implementation of a common directory standard.

Date & Time: June 13- 14, 2019 at 8:30 am – 3:00 pm ET
Location: 200 Independence Avenue, Washington, DC 20201 & Webinar
Register for the Workshop

ONC Announces Second Draft of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and Supporting Documents
ONC released a second draft of the TEFCA last week to support the full, network-to-network exchange of health information nationally. Three TEFCA documents are available for public comment until June 17, 2019. Review and Comment on the TEFCA.

Looking for the latest national-level data on health IT?
ONC has created close to 50 original data briefs that provide information about current topics in health IT. These reports summarize national-level data analyses providing readers with easy to understand graphics, key takeaways, and policy relevant discussions. Check out ONC’s Data Briefs.

LEAP in Health IT Funding Available
Earlier this month, ONC published a special emphasis notice (SEN) under the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health IT funding opportunity to address standardization of patient information for seamless access, exchange, and use.

For more information visit LEAP in Health IT.

Security Risk Assessment Tool Update
An updated version of the Security Risk Assessment (SRA) tool is available that includes bug fixes, enhancements, and a security patch. We encourage those running the previous version to upgrade as soon as possible.

New Health IT Advisory Committee Task Forces
The Health IT Advisory Committee (HITAC) launched four task forces to review and provide recommendations on ONC’s proposed rule. The task forces include: Information Blocking, Conditions and Maintenance of Certification Requirements, Health IT for the Care Continuum and U.S. Core Data for Interoperability. The task forces are expected to conduct reviews and provide recommendations over the next two months. Follow the Task Forces

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:

Events

Second TEFCA Webinar with Question & Answer Session Scheduled

Interoperability Standards Priorities Task Force Meeting
The next Interoperability Standards Priorities Task Force Meeting will be held Tuesday, May 28, 2019.

Save the Date – Interoperability Forum #3
Join ONC this August for a two-day Interoperability Forum that brings together federal partners, the healthcare industry, and the technology sector. Attendees will learn about recent efforts to advance interoperability nationwide and identify concrete actions that can be taken to respond to today’s interoperability challenges from a mix of keynote speakers, demos, and dedicated tracks.

Date & Time: August 21-22, 2019 from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm ET
Location: Renaissance Hotel, 999 Ninth Street NW, Washington DC 20001

Registration information will be sent out in the near future and a webcast option will be available for plenary sessions.

2018 ONC Annual Meeting Presentations are Online Now
Slide presentations from the breakout sessions at the 2018 ONC Annual Meeting are available online. To download the presentations, navigate to the session in the agenda and look for the “Download Slides” link. Additionally, you can view recordings of the mainstage sessions.

Spotlighting Interoperability Proving Ground Programs

The Interoperability Proving Ground (IPG) Spotlight project of the week is EMDI- eHealth Exchange Interoperability Pilot – Organization: eHealth Exchange POC: Jay Nakashima, Executive Director; Eric Heflin, CTO; Pilot Goal: The eHealth Exchange interoperability pilot would like to complete an EMDI pilot to identify interoperable solutions to the second EMDI Use Case: Additional Documentation Request and to improve healthcare information sharing.

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.