Welcome to the Health IT Buzz Blog
Learn more about HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
Interoperability Moving Beyond Closed Networks – An Update on Trusted Exchange of Health Information
Don Rucker M.D. | April 19, 2019
In the 1990s, many Americans interacted with the Internet through America Online. While this platform was revolutionary, providing users with e-mail services and access to content, it was also a closed network. Their users were restricted from accessing applications, content, and services available outside of AOL’s approved content providers. In the healthcare landscape, we still have a similar dynamic today. Both national networks and local or regional health information exchanges provide valuable services to their users;
Read Full Post.
Interoperability ONC’s Proposed Rule will Connect People to their Care
Don Rucker M.D. | February 11, 2019
Today, I am pleased to announce the release of ONC’s proposed rule to implement provisions in Title IV of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act). We also released a series of educational resources that focus on areas of the rule—including patient access, information blocking, the new conditions of certification, and the role application programming interfaces (API) will play in the new health information technology (health IT) landscape created by the Cures Act. Over the next few weeks,
Read Full Post.
Health IT The 2019 Interoperability Standards Advisory Reference Edition is Now Available
Steven Posnack, M.S., M.H.S. | January 14, 2019
Get your 2019 off to a start with new and updated standards! Since the 2018 comment period on the Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) closed on October 1, we combed through all your comments and made improvements based on your suggestions.
If you’re new to the ISA, you will find it contains a variety of standards and implementation specifications curated by developers, standards gurus, and other stakeholders to meet interoperability needs (a term we use in the ISA to represent the purpose for use of standards or implementation specifications – similar to a use case) in healthcare.
Health IT App Challenge Winner Docket to Add Immunization Data for Individuals
Chris Muir | January 9, 2019
The first in an occasional series of “Where are they now?” posts about past ONC Challenge winners
It’s been a little more than a year since the Docket app won the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) Move Health Data Forward (MHDF) Challenge, focused on helping consumers consolidate and share their health data. At a recent check in with the Docket team, ONC learned that Docket is continuing to improve patient access by adding new functionality that will allow consumers to access their personal and family immunization records.
Health IT Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs: Released for Public Comment
Andrew Gettinger, M.D. | November 28, 2018
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a draft Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs for public comment. This work, led by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was required by Congress under the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act).
Read Full Post.