2017 Posts

These Genes are on FHIR! Advances in Standardizing Genomics through HL7® FHIR®

Teresa Zayas Cabán, PhD | November 28, 2017

Earlier this year, the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in partnership with National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced the Sync for Genes pilots – an effort to strengthen genomic data sharing that is part of the Precision Medicine Initiative.  As a result of this effort, a set of genomics specifications have been refined as part of the Health Level 7 (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR®) standard,

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Reflections from a Health IT Perspective on Disaster Response

Andrew Gettinger | November 15, 2017

Health information technology (health IT) has come a long way since Hurricane Katrina came roaring ashore in 2005.  At that time, few hospitals in the region had adopted electronic health records (EHRs).  To address some coordination issues, a national foundation comprised of several private businesses, national physician organizations, and other health professionals stood up a basic system to share medication history with providers in a matter of hours. This system, KatrinaHealth.org, was helpful in limited circumstances;

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Caregiving in an Electronic Age

Genevieve Morris | November 2, 2017

As the youngest child in a relatively large extended family, I never thought I would be called upon to help my mom be a caregiver for my grandparents, who throughout my life were incredibly healthy.  Unfortunately, dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease, do not discriminate in choosing their victims, and my once healthy grandparents now require a higher level of care. And with that care, comes the need to make sure that we family caregivers have the information we need to help manage their care,

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Readout of NHIT Week Long-Term and Post-Acute Care Summit

Genevieve Morris | October 26, 2017

National Health IT Week offers an annual opportunity to promote awareness of the value of health IT and to highlight progress made across the healthcare ecosystem. National Health IT Week took place this year from October 2nd to October 6th. As part of this year’s National Health IT Week, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)  hosted a Long-Term and Post-Acute Care (LTPAC) Listening Session to hear from health IT developers and LTPAC stakeholders about some of the challenges in achieving interoperability across acute,

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The ONC Health IT Certification Program Approves the HIMSS-Immunization Integration Program (IIP) Testing Method

Steven Posnack | October 17, 2017

Today, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is announcing that the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has successfully demonstrated that its testing method, as part of the Immunization Integration Program (HIMSS-IIP), can serve as an alternative to the current National Coordinator-approved method for testing transmissions to immunization registries. 

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