What’s Happening at the ONC – 4-25-22

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Posted By: HHS/ONC/CMS Communications April 25, 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

Now Available: The 2022 ONC Annual Meeting Recordings & Presentations!

Want to revisit a session or attend a breakout session you weren’t able to watch from the virtual 2022 ONC Annual Meeting? You can now access all recorded sessions and presentations!

Check out the 2022 ONC Annual Meeting Sessions and Materials On-Demand.

Health IT Advisory Committee
Wednesday, 5/18/22, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm ET

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!

News and Announcements

Synthetic Health Data to Accelerate PCOR Project
The Synthetic Health Data Generation to Accelerate Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) project final report is now available. The report draws upon the perspectives of actively engaged users and contributors to identify opportunities and considerations to enhance the capabilities of Synthea TM, an open-source synthetic health data generation engine. This project is one facet of ONC’s continuing efforts to help build a PCOR data infrastructure and provide researchers and health IT developers access to a low-risk, readily available synthetic data source. Read the Final Report.

Feedback Period for USCDI v3 Open Until April 30th
ONC continues to seek 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 the previously published Standards Bulletin for everything you need to know about the 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. Read the Standards Bulletin.

SVAP Comment Period Closing on May 2!
Don’t miss your opportunity to provide comments for the next Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP). We extended our comment period to align with important standards development activities. ONC will announce approved standards for SVAP in June each year and effective for Certification Program use in August of that year. To learn more, visit the SVAP website. Provide SVAP Comment Now.

HITAC Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2021
The Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) has transmitted the HITAC Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2021 to the HHS Secretary and Congress. Required by the 21st Century Cures Act, this fourth edition of the HITAC annual report describes the HITAC’s progress during fiscal year 2021. The annual report also describes the health IT and health care industries’ progress in advancing the health IT infrastructure in several target areas: use of technologies that support public health, interoperability, privacy and security, and patient access to information. View the Report.

New Tool Announced – Inferno Redesigned: Easier, Faster, Extensible
ONC recently announced the update of the Inferno Framework and the (g)(10) Standardized API Test Kit, the new version of the testing method for the § 170.315(g)(10) certification criterion adopted as part of the ONC Health IT Certification Program. Visit the Health IT Buzz Blog to learn more about this new edition of Inferno. Check Out the Tool.

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.

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.

ONC is Hiring!

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.