ONC has established the voluntary Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP)1 to enable health IT developers’ ability to incorporate newer versions of Secretary-adopted standards and implementation specifications, as part of the “Real World Testing” Condition and Maintenance of Certification requirement (§ 170.405) of the 21st Century Cures Act.
Using SVAP, certified health IT developers are permitted to voluntarily use a more advanced version of the standard(s) and implementation specification(s) approved by the National Coordinator than is adopted in the ONC 2015 Edition Certification Criteria. Currently, this flexibility is limited to standards and implementation specifications that are adopted in the certification criteria required to meet “Real World Testing” condition of certification, which include § 170.315(b), (c)(1) through (c)(3), (e)(1), (f), (g)(7) through (g)(10), and (h).
Health IT developers taking advantage of the SVAP flexibility must ensure that their real-world testing plans and results of the certified health modules use these updated standards and implementation specifications. Additionally, certified health IT developers are required to provide advance notice to their clients and their ONC-Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) before adopting the new standards.
Working with industry stakeholders and providing ample notice, ONC will follow a collaborative process to identify a more advanced version of the standards or implementation specifications, for approval by the National Coordinator.
The table below lists the standards and implementation specifications (and their versions) that will be considered for advancement and those that have received National Coordinator approval via the Standards Version Advancement Process. It does not include any minimum vocabulary standards as health IT can continue to be certified or upgraded to newer version(s) of identified minimum standard code sets, unless newer version(s) are explicitly prohibited by the Secretary. The table can be sorted by either "Current Standard/Implementation Specification" or "Regulatory Text Citation" by clicking on the column name.
The table below will be updated throughout the year to include standards with newer versions under consideration for the current SVAP cycle. However, if there is a newer version of a standard and it’s not listed below it can still be considered for inclusion in the current SVAP cycle. As with previous SVAP cycles, future public comment periods will align with important standards development activities, such as the yearly release of new United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) versions and HL7® standards related to C-CDA® and FHIR® US Core, thereby establishing a consistent cadence of SVAP comment periods and releases. The yearly SVAP comment cycle is open from January to May with a final release of SVAP approved standards for each year to occur in June. The public comment period for SVAP 2024 ran from January 16 through May 21.
The SVAP Approved Standards for 2024 are now published. For the latest information on the approved standards for use, see the ONC Health IT Certification Program SVAP page.
| View / Comment | Current Standard / Implementation Specification listing in IBR (170.299) | Regulatory Text Citation for Standard / Implementation Specification Adopted Sort descending | Certification Criteria(on) References Standard / Implementation Specification | National Coordinator Approved Advanced Version(s) | View / Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
§ 170.202(a)(2) |
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§ 170.202(b) |
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§ 170.202(d) |
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§ 170.202(e)(1) |
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§ 170.204(a)(1) |
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§ 170.204(a)(2) |
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§ 170.205(a)(3) |
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§ 170.205(a)(4) |
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§ 170.205(a)(4) |
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§ 170.205(a)(5) |
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§ 170.205(a)(6) |
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§ 170.205(b)(1) |
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§ 170.205(d)(4) |
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§ 170.205(d)(4) |
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§ 170.205(e)(4) |
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§ 170.205(e)(4) |
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§ 170.205(g) |
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§ 170.205(g) |
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§ 170.205(h)(2) |
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§ 170.205(h)(3) |
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§ 170.205(i)(2) |
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§ 170.205(i)(2) |
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§ 170.205(k)(3) |
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§ 170.205(o)(1) |
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§ 170.205(p)(1) |
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§ 170.205(r)(1) |
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§ 170.205(s)(1) |
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§ 170.205(s)(1) |
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§ 170.213 |
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§ 170.213 |
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§ 170.215(a)(1) |
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§ 170.215(a)(3) |
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§ 170.215(a)(3) |
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§ 170.215(a)(4) |
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§ 170.215(b) |
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§ 170.215(b)(1) |
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§ 170.215(b)(1) |
1SVAP is permitted in ONC’s 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule in the Real World Testing CoC/MoC: § 170.405(b)(7) and (8) and ONC-ACB PoPC §170.523(t)
Comment
Submitted by zhornberger on
The Medical Imaging &…
The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) is the leading trade association representing the manufacturers of medical imaging equipment and radiopharmaceuticals. We applaud the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in its work to promote the industry standards which enable continued interoperability for healthcare devices. MITA offers these comments in support of those shared goals.
Submitted by mdoan on
SVAP Comments from FEHRM
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Submitted by michael.e.prevoznik on
SVAP comments from Quest Diagnostics
Thank you for the opportunity to comment. These comments are submitted by Michael E. Prevoznik, Senior Vice President and General Counsel.
Submitted by ragnhildurb on
Comments from the Alliance for Nursing Informatics
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) and the Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP).
The Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI), co-sponsored by AMIA & HIMSS, advances nursing informatics leadership, practice, education, policy and research through a unified voice of nursing informatics organizations. We transform health and healthcare through nursing informatics and innovation. ANI is a collaboration of organizations that represents more than 20,000 nurse informaticists and brings together 25 distinct nursing informatics groups globally. ANI crosses academia, practice, industry, and nursing specialty boundaries and works in collaboration with the more than 4 million nurses in practice today.
We offer our comments as nursing informatics stakeholders in the attached document.
Submitted by knicholoff@ehra.org on
EHR Association Comments to ONC on the SVAP
On behalf of the EHR Association, we appreciate the opportunity to provide input into the first Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP), to enable voluntary adoption of a more current version of a standard included in the 2015 Certification Edition Cures Update.
EHR Association Comments to ONC on the Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP).pdf
Submitted by Solarf3050 on
HL7's SVAP Comments
Attached are Health Level Seven (HL7) International's comments on ONC’s voluntary Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP) and the related standards and implementation specifications that will be considered.
Submitted by cbush on
Request for HL7 CDA NHCS IG R1 Release 3 to be approved for SVAP
The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Division of Health Care Statistics requests the HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: National Health Care Surveys (NHCS) R1 STU Release 3 - US Realm (Release 3) standard, published in February 2020, be approved by ONC under the Standards Version Advancement Process for the 45 CFR 170.315(f)(7) Transmission to Public Health Agencies – Health Care Surveys certification criterion. NCHS understands that should this requests be approved: a) providers can continue to submit data to NCHS via CEHRT certified to the HL7 Implementation Guide for CDA® Release 2: National Health Care Surveys (NHCS), Release 1 - US Realm and HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: National Health Care Surveys (NHCS), Release 1, DSTU Release 1.2 – US Realm standards for (f)(7) and b) that any EHR product or HIT Module that chooses to enable Release 3 submissions through CEHRT does so voluntarily. The justification for this request is that in order to meet information needs in health care such as the opioid crisis,, the current COVID-19 pandemic, future epidemics, and other challenges, NCHS’ National Health Care Surveys have evolved since the HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: National Health Care Surveys Release 1, DSTU Release 1.2 –US Realm, August 2016 was created. Health care interoperability as well has evolved during this time period with the advent of USCDI V1, FHIR and APIs. While NCHS does embrace FHIR and is moving to develop FHIR standards, we do understand that CDA will continue to be an important and relevant standard for years to come. NCHS has pulled all these threads together in Release 3. Release 3 is a significantly streamlined and up-to-date IG that: a) deprecates approximately 30+ data elements, b) more closely aligns with USCDI V1, and c) updates OIDs and value sets. Should this request be approved by ONC, NCHS plans to ask EHR vendors and HIT Modules to Real World Test Release 3.
Submitted by Roosevelt_1971 on
2020 Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) and Standards Ver
The attachment contains the 2020 Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) and Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP) Review and Comments from VHA OHI CIDMO Interagency Health Informatics Division
Submitted by gthole on
Cerner Corporation 2022 SVAP Comments
Cerner Corporation appreciates the opportunity to provide our comments and recommendations for the 2022 Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP). Please find our comment letter attached.
Cerner Corporation 2022 SVAP Comment Letter.pdf