What’s Happening at the ONC – 9-21-2018

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin September 21, 2018

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

HL7 FHIR Apps Roundtable features ONC Challenge Winners
ONC will highlight its past challenge winners as part of the FHIR solutions showcase at the HL7 FHIR Apps Roundtable meeting on September 28, 2018 in Washington, DC. Learn more about ONC’s past challenges.

Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) – Open for Review and Comment
The Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) annual review and comment period has started. The ISA is an interactive catalog of standards and implementation specifications supporting interoperability in healthcare, and stakeholder input is crucial to ensure it contains the latest and most accurate industry information. Share your thoughts by commenting by October 1, when work begins to finalize the ISA for the 2019 Reference Edition, published later this year. Learn more about the ISA and comment period by reading “Interoperability Standards Advisory: Annual Request for Comments”.

ONC is Hiring a Nurse Informaticist
ONC is seeking a nurse informaticist to work in the ONC Clinical Division across a variety of critical issues, including policy and stakeholder engagement. Apply by October 15, 2018 to be considered for this opportunity.

Are you Up for the Challenge? Two ONC Challenges Still Open
There is still time to enter two ONC challenges, deadlines are October 15 and 31, respectively:

  • Easy EHR Issue Reporting Challenge – This challenge is a multidisciplinary call to software developers, clinicians, and innovators to create a tool that will make it easier for doctors, nurses, and other care team members to efficiently and effectively report concerns about the usability or safety of EHRs to appropriate parties, such as the hospital or practice’s IT team, the EHR developer, and Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs). Total: $80,000 in prizes
  • CHPL Data Challenge – This challenge is a call for developers, researchers, and innovators to develop a software application that makes use of the data in the CHPL application programming interfaces (API) or XML files in novel ways. The application should provide solutions to challenges for health care providers, health care consumers, and the health IT community​. Total: $40,000 in prizes

Health IT Advisory Committee Upcoming Meetings
The next Health IT Advisory Committee meeting will be held October 17, 2018.

ONC Request for Information (RFI) for Input on EHR Reporting Program
Section 4002(c) of the 21st Century Cures Act requires HHS to establish an “Electronic Health Record (EHR) Reporting Program” that provides publically available, comparative information on certified health IT. ONC recently issued an RFI for the public to share their views on the components of the EHR Reporting Program, and to provide feedback that will inform the development of EHR Reporting Program criteria and processes as required by the Cures Act.

The RFI is published in the Federal Register, and ONC encourages stakeholders to provide their comments through the online submission process available there. Comments are due at 5:00pm ET on October 17, 2018.

SAVE THE DATE: ONC’s 2018 Annual Meeting
Mark your calendars! ONC’s 2018 Annual Meeting will be held November 29 and 30 in Washington, DC. ONC will share more information about the agenda, location, and hotel reservations in the coming weeks.

ONC and NIST Transitions eRx Testing Tool to NCPDP
In 2017, ONC announced a 5-year goal to transition the ONC Health IT Certification Program’s testing portfolio to as many industry-developed and maintained testing tools as envisioned by the 21st Century Cures Act. Today, the ONC Health IT Certification Program’s approved electronic prescribing (eRx) testing tool and associated support and documentation transitioned from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ePrescribing Test Suite to the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP). Learn more about the transition by reading: A New Home for the Electronic Prescribing Testing Tool.

Now Available: ONC’s 2nd Interoperability Forum Recording
Last month, over 1000+ in-person and virtual attendees participated in ONC’s 2nd Interoperability Forum. Watch experts from the public and private sector describe ways to advance nationwide interoperability, demo technology solutions, and identify ways to address interoperability barriers.
Video: ONC’s 2nd Interoperability Forum

Spotlighting Interoperability Proving Ground Programs

The Interoperability Proving Ground (IPG) Spotlight project of the week is DDASH, an open-source protocol for information exchange across blockchain networks. DDASH aims to eliminate barriers to information exchange within and among organizations and to build open economies around health information. The result is a mechanism for health information exchange via transfer of information and value among the main Ethereum network and private Ethereum networks.

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.