Portrait of LaVerne Perlie

Increase in Exchange of Vaccination Data in Nebraska, Powered by the STAR HIE Program

LaVerne Perlie | October 2, 2024

ASTP launched the Strengthening the Technical Advancement and Readiness of Public Health via Health Information Exchange (STAR HIE Program) in 2020. The program expanded in 2021 to increase support for efforts to improve vaccination data sharing between jurisdictional immunization information systems (IIS) and HIEs. CyncHealth in Omaha, Nebraska, was among the 22 recipients that received a combined $5 million in funds from ASTP via the CARES Act.

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Portrait of Dustin Charles

Setting Our Sights Toward a Healthier, More Innovative, Data-Driven Future

Dustin Charles | September 30, 2024

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (hereafter ASTP), has released the final 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan (Plan).
The Plan is a tremendous step forward in the federal government’s continued focus on health IT and the opportunities it presents to improve care delivery and care coordination. The Plan builds on the preceding 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan to advance the access,

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Portrait of Elise Sweeney Anthony

The Global Digital Health Partnership: Engaging Individuals for Worldwide Wellness

Elise Sweeney Anthony | September 27, 2024

In the dynamic landscape of global health, one principle stands out as a common thread across countries: the importance of individual engagement. Increasingly recognized for its transformative impact on individual health outcomes, individual engagement is a concept that lies at the heart of initiatives spearheaded by the Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP), including the recently launched International Insights on Individual Engagement (the I-E). As a collaboration of country governments and the World Health Organization formed to support the executive implementation of worldwide digital health services,

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Portrait of Avinash Shanbhag

Introducing the 2024 Draft Federal FHIR® Action Plan

Avinash Shanbhag | September 23, 2024

ASTP released the 2024 Draft Federal FHIR® Action Plan, a curated catalog of federal agency uses of the Health Level Seven (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR®) standard and associated implementation specifications. Federal agencies are adopting and using FHIR to meet a range of agency needs, including facilitating care coordination and expanding individuals access to their health information. The draft action plan serves as a single resource for federal agencies and anyone else in the health IT community looking for the FHIR-based capabilities being used today by the federal government.

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Portrait of Alex Kontur

ASTP Partnership with HL7 Advances Standards Development

Alex Kontur | August 19, 2024

Often functioning behind the scenes, standards play an enormous role in our daily lives. Nearly every aspect of our modern world is shaped by standards, including our homes (building codes, electrical outlets), cars (safety requirements, fuel efficiency), and the food we eat (nutrition labels). Standards in healthcare impact medical education, clinical practice, quality of care, and patient safety. Likewise, modern health information technology (IT) systems, like electronic health records (EHRs), rely on data standards to record and exchange health information.

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