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Learn more about HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
ONC Funded Projects, Research and Scientific Advancement, Standards FHIR Factories Help Researchers use EHR Data
Alison Kemp | December 4, 2023
Researchers, developers, and clinicians have new tools to help them access high-quality electronic health record (EHR) data more effectively. A 2020 ONC Leading Edge Acceleration Project (LEAP) in Health IT awardee, MedStar Health Research Institute, in collaboration with the Georgetown University Medical Center and HealthLab, developed two new data tools as part of MedStar’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR) Factories: An Evolving Digital Architecture to Scale Health Research project.
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Inside ONC Procurement Pro: Hear from ONC’s Michael Morrison
Michael Morrison | November 27, 2023
Michael Morrison serves as the procurement branch chief in ONC’s procurement and grants division (PGD). He is responsible for a wide range of key functions associated with the acquisition of goods and services to carry out ONC’s responsibilities. As a senior staff member in ONC’s office of the chief operation officer (OCOO), he manages a highly trained and experienced staff. Together they navigate the complex, fast paced maze of ONC’s procurements.
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Health Information Exchange The Digital Health Divide for Populations that have been Marginalized
Jordan Everson | November 13, 2023
Many hospitals have adopted systems for interoperable patient data exchange and are connected to national networks. However, ONC has consistently found that rates of interoperable exchange for smaller, rural, and independent hospitals have notably lagged behind other hospitals. For example, in both 2017 and 2021, rural hospitals were 23 percentage points less likely to engage in interoperable exchange compared to urban hospitals. In a recent study, ONC explored this digital divide to better understand the relationship between interoperable exchange and measures of hospitals that served populations that have been marginalized.
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TEFCA Coming in Hot! TEFCA Will Soon Be Live and Add Support for FHIR-Based Exchange
Mark Knee | November 3, 2023
In January 2022, ONC and The Sequoia Project, serving as ONC’s Recognized Coordinating Entity® (RCETM) organization, released the Trusted Exchange Framework and Version 1 of the Common Agreement. One year later, six organizations became candidate Qualified Health Information NetworksTM (QHINsTM) and committed to complete “onboarding” and “go live” by the end of 2023 – we are still on target!
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Information Blocking Consequences for Information Blocking: New Proposals to Establish Disincentives for Health Care Providers
Micky Tripathi | October 30, 2023
A new proposed rule released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) details HHS’ first steps for holding health care providers accountable for information blocking under the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act). Specifically, the “21st Century Cures Act: Establishment of Disincentives for Health Care Providers That Have Committed Information Blocking” proposed rule proposes to establish a department-wide regulatory framework for managing disincentives and proposes an initial set of appropriate disincentives in Centers for Medicare &
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