What’s Happening at the ONC – 1/23/23

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Posted By: HHS/ONC/CMS Communications January 23, 2023

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

Health IT Advisory Committee
Wednesday, 2/08/23, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm ET

Register for Upcoming TEFCA Webinars

The TEFCA RCE continues to host public stakeholder sessions for input as TEFCA is developed and implemented.

TEFCA RCE Monthly Informational Call
Third Tuesday of Each Month | 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET

News & Announcements

GAO Announces HITAC Appointments
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) just announced 7 newly appointed members of the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) as required by the 21st Century Cures Act. Join us in welcoming Kikelomo Belizare, MD, MPH, MBA; Shila Blend, PhD, MS; Hannah Galvin, MD, FAAP, FAMIA; Bryant Thomas Karras, MD; Anna McCollister; Deven McGraw, JD, MPH; and Naresh Sundar Rajan, PhD, MS to the HITAC!

ONC's Cures Act Final Rule

In May of 2020 the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program released by the ONC and published in the Federal Register. Here is a quick timeline.

Certification

  • 6/30/20 – General Effective Date
  • 4/5/21 – Compliance requirements start for information blocking, assurance, and API
  • 4/5/21 – HIT developers prohibited from restricting certain communications
  • 12/15/21 – Submit initial real world testing plans
  • 4/1/22 – 1st attestation to conditions of Cert required
  • 12/31/22 – New HL7 FHIR API capability and other update criteria must be made available
  • 3/15/23 – Submit initial real world testing results
  • 12/31/23 – EHI export capability must be made available

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: Argonaut Phase 2 Implementation & Testing – Developing a Web Based Client – This is a personal project to test the FHIR and Security standards, that are currently being tested as part of the Argonaut Phase 2 Implementation & Testing Project. The project is currently developing a web based client that connects securely (via SMART OAuth2 profiles) to various FHIR servers that are being deployed by participants of the Argonaut project. Once the Argonaut phase 2 implementation is completed, the application will be deployed on the internet.

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.