Transitions of care (e.g. from a nursing home to an emergency department) are often difficult, but are even more dangerous for the patient and healthcare providers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ONC is working with private-sector innovators to find unique and rapid ways to help move patients from the hospital to the nursing home, or vice versa.

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In 2018, the United States was at a turning point with respect to the adoption and implementation of the Health Level Seven (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) standard in health information technology (health IT). At that time, our analysis, outlined in a previous blog post predicted that the U.S. could soon see widespread adoption of certified application programming interface (API) technology enabled with FHIR. The results are in, and the findings are encouraging.

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It’s finally time for the 2021 ONC Tech Forum! This year’s Tech Forum will be held virtually on two consecutive Fridays: September 10 and 17, 2021.* Come join us to hear about industry perspectives on the progress made in health IT over the past year, and how we can continue to advance health technology to improve patient care, health equity, data exchange, and interoperability.  Presenters from across the nation will discuss the ways in which the use of health IT supports national needs on topics such as social determinants of health (SDOH),

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Today we are pleased to announce the timeline for the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). The 21st Century Cures Act, signed by President Obama in 2016, calls on ONC to “develop or support a trusted exchange framework, including a common agreement among health information networks nationally.”
In August 2019, ONC awarded a cooperative agreement to The Sequoia Project to serve as the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) to administer a new nationwide network based on the Common Agreement.

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As part of  HHS’s response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats, ONC’s Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) recently held an expert panel hearing to understand the performance of public health data systems during the COVID-19 pandemic  response and other gap areas in current infrastructure.

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