National Health IT Week: Sept 10-14, 2012

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Mike Squires

National Health IT Week

September 10-14, 2012 Excerpted from http://www.healthit.gov/healthitweek/ on Sept 8, 2012

The Seventh Annual National Health IT Week is being held September 10-14, 2012. Health IT Week brings together the entire health IT community under one umbrella to raise awareness about the power of health IT to improve the quality, safety, and cost effectiveness of health care.

The events of the week provide a key opportunity for key stakeholders-vendors, provider organizations, payers, pharmaceutical/biotech companies, government agencies, industry and professional associations, research foundations, and consumer groups- to work together to highlight critical issues and advance a shared vision of improving the nation's health and health care through health IT. During Health IT Week, ONC has developed a specific theme upon which to build each day's events. We hope you are able to join us for as many as your schedule allows.

Health IT Events and Initiatives

Monday: Consumer eHealth/Blue Button
2012 Consumer Health IT Summit: Expanding Access to Health Information
Monday, September 10
10:00am – 1:00pm ET (NOTE: Breakout sessions will occur from 1:00 – 3:30PM for attendees who are participating in person)
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, D.C., 20201

The 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit will bring together federal leaders including: Todd Park, U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and inspiring leaders from the private and non-profit sectors. ONC's Pledge Program has grown more than ten-fold since last year-the 2012 Consumer Health IT Summit is a chance to learn from and share your experiences with others who are leading the charge to empower consumers to be better partners in their health.

View the latest agenda [PDF - 104 KB]

Event will be Webcast Live at www.hhs.gov/live.
Health IT Blog Carnival

The Health IT Blog Carnival is an open call for healthcare and IT industry bloggers who would like to comment on the impact health IT will have in 2013.
Tuesday: Improving Patient Care Through Meaningful Use
ONC – HRSA Webinar Demo of the New ONC Privacy and Security Training Game and Program Update for Safety Net Providers|
Tuesday, Septeber 11
10:00am – 11:00am ET

This webinar will feature a new training tool from the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) Privacy and Security Group. ONC will demo an interactive training game for providers and staff on the "do's and don'ts" of privacy and security issues regarding health IT. This training tool can be used to help fulfill a safety net provider's HIPAA privacy training requirements. In addition, ONC will provide a privacy and security update on recent program changes and how they affect safety net providers.

Presenters:
- Laura Rosas, JD, MPH, Policy Analyst, ONC
- William Phelps Policy Analyst, ONC
Register for the webinar
PCPCC Advancing Primary Care through Health IT
Tuesday, September 11
2:00pm – 3:30pm ET

The Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) is holding a webinar featuring speakers from CMS, ONC, and NCQA to discuss various aspects of health information technology and the patient-centered medical home. Please join us for a free and informative webinar from 2:00-3:30pm ET on Tuesday, September 11, entitled "Advancing Primary Care through Health Information Technology".

Presenters:
- Richard Baron, MD, MACP, Group Director, Seamless Care Models, CMS Innovation Center
- Jacob Reider, MD, Acting Chief Medical Officer, ONC
- Mat Kendall, Director of Office Provider Adoption Support, ONC
- Johann Chanin, Director in Product Development, NCQA
Register for the webinar
Wednesday: Privacy and Security
NeHC Privacy and Security Programs|
Wednesday, September 12
11:00am – 12:00pm ET
As part of Health IT Week , National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) will offer a series of programs with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to highlight their various initiatives, including those related to privacy and security. Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer at ONC will kick off the program and Laura Rosas, Privacy and Security Professional at ONC and Will Phelps, HIT Cyber Security Program Officer with HHS, will provide an interactive demonstration of Cybersecure: Your Medical Practice, a new avatar-based game meant to enhance organizations' understanding of privacy and security.

Faculty:
- Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer, ONC
- Laura E. Rosas, JD, MPH, Privacy and Security Professional, Office of the Chief Privacy Officer, ONC
- Will Phelps, HIT Cyber Security Program Officer, US Department of Health and Human Services
URL: http://www.nationalehealth.org/HITWeek-Security

Fee: No charge
Thursday: Standards, Interoperability, and Health Information Exchange
NeHC Standards & Interoperability Framework
Thursday, September 13
1:00p – 2:30pm ET
Continuing with the HIT Week Program Series, National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) will offer a program with Deputy National Coordinator David Muntz and Director of the Office of Science and Technology, Dr. Doug Fridsma to lead a discussion on the progress of the Standards and Interoperability Framework. Dr. Holly Miller from MedAllies, Inc. and David Tao from Siemens Healthcare will discuss the S&I Framework from the perspective of a provider and a vendor respectively.

Faculty:
- David Muntz, Principal Deputy National Coordinator, ONC
- Dr. Doug Fridsma, Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability, ONC
- Dr. Holly Miller, Chief Medical Officer, MedAllies, Inc.
- David Tao, Senior Key Expert and Interoperability Champion, Siemens Healthcare
URL: http://www.nationalehealth.org/HITWeek-Standards

Fee: No charge
Friday: Quality and Health IT
eHC Quality in Health IT Webinar
Friday, September 14
11:00am – 12:00pm ET
The final webinar of the HIT Week Program Series , National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) will provide a program featuring Dr. Farzad Mostashari, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, and Dr. Patrick Conway to discuss how ONC, AHRQ, and CMS are collaborating to leverage health IT to improve healthcare quality. Speakers will provide a vision for the quality measurement enterprise of the future as well as the necessary steps to transition to health IT-enabled measurement, reporting and feedback that drives improvement in care and outcomes. They will also identify challenges moving forward in realizing this vision, including the need for continued public-private collaboration to continuously evolve and improve the enterprise.

Faculty:
- Dr. Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, ONC
- Dr. Carolyn Clancy, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
- Dr. Patrick Conway, Chief Medical Officer, Director, Office of Clinical Quality Standards and Quality , Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
URL: http://www.nationalehealth.org/HITWeek-Quality

Fee: No charge
HRSA Leadership Tips During a Health IT Implementation Webinar

Friday, September 14
2:00pm – 3:30pm ET
This webinar focuses on the importance of leadership in successfully steering an organization through a health IT implementation. It features established leaders who have conducted more than 70 health IT implementations in health centers, rural health clinics, and critical access hospitals. The presenters will also focus on how leadership is important in helping staff, clinicians, patients, a safety net providers' board, and partners adjust to and overcome the barriers that typically accompany a health IT implementation and impede success. Lastly, the presenters will provide leadership examples of unique health IT implementation situations such as meeting meaningful use objectives, changing vendors, and implementing health IT in multiple provider sites. Presenters include:
- Terry Hill, MPA, Executive Director and Joe Wivoda, Chief Information Officer
  National Rural Health Resource Center
- Greg Wolverton, Chief Information Officer
  White River Rural Health Center, Arkansas
- Doug Smith, Executive Director
  Greene County Healthcare, North Carolina
Register for the webinar
HIMSS "Health IT is…" Twitter Chat

Friday, September 14

On Friday, September 14, @HIMSS and @HealthStandards are moderating at #HITsm Twitter chat on National Health IT Week at 12 noon ET. More details including chat questions will be shared on the HL7 Standards blog closer to the day.
Celebrate in Your Hometown

Find out 10 ways to get involved , whether externally in your community and/or by communicating the value of health IT within your own organization.

View a full list of National Health IT activities taking places across the U.S. , or to visit the National Health IT Week website to learn more.

It's also easy for individuals and organizations across the country to participate. Potential partners – including corporate, non-profit and academic institutions – should visit the National Health IT Week website Partners page to learn more about generating awareness of health IT in their communities.

Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security Purpose

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Mike Squires

Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security
Excerpted on Sept 3, 2012 from NIST HIPAA Security Conference http://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/hipaasec.cfm

Purpose:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) co-hosted the 5th annual conference Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security on June 6 & 7, 2012 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

The conference explored the current health information technology security landscape and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule. This event highlighted the present state of health information security, and practical strategies, tips and techniques for implementing the HIPAA Security Rule. The Security Rule set federal standards to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic protected health information by requiring HIPAA covered entities and their business associates to implement and maintain administrative, physical and technical safeguards.

The conference offered important keynote addresses and plenary sessions as well as breakout sessions following two learning tracks around specific areas of security management and technical assurance. Presentations covered a variety of current topics including updates on HHS health information privacy and security initiatives, OCR's enforcement of health information privacy and security activities, integrating security safeguards into health IT, safeguards to secure mobile devices, removing sensitive data from the Internet, and more.

A single registration fee granted access to all presentations on-site and through a live Webcast. Video of the event is available at: http://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/hipaa-security-conference-2012-webcast.cfm.

A live Twitter Chat was conducted using the hashtag #HIPAASecurity.

Lunch and refreshments were served on-site.

Agenda:

Conference Agenda – Final Agenda dated 5/29/2012

Presentations can be viewed from the NIST Computer Security Division's website known as Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC).

Presentations – 2012 HIPAA
Excerpted on Sept 3, 2012 from http://csrc.nist.gov/news_events/hiipaa_june2012/presentations.html (updated: Wed., June 6 @ 10:27am EST.)

NOTE: All presentations posted are in PDF format. Also note, when you click on the link to a presentation, the presentation will open up in a new browser window and this page will still be open in the background.

Wednesday, June 6 (Day 1):

9:00-9:15 Welcome and Logistics
David Holtzman, OCR and Kevin Stine, NIST

9:15-9:30 Leadership Remarks
Matt Scholl, Deputy Chief, Computer Security Division, NIST

9:30-10:15 Risk Management Framework: Privacy Controls
Dr. Ron Ross, NIST

10:30-11:15 Beyond HIPAA: The FTC Privacy Report
Cora Tung Han, FTC

11:15-12:15 Establishing an Access Auditing Program
Cindy Matson, Sanford Health System

1:15-2:00 View From the Cloud: Security Assurance Considerations for a Purchaser
Mac McMillan, HIMSS; and Vince Campitelli, Cloud Security Alliance

2:00-2:45 HHS/ONC Overview
Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer, Office of the National Coordinator

3:00-4:00 (Breakout A-1 Session) Security of Mobile Devices
Lisa Gallagher, HIMSS

3:00-4:00 (Breakout B-1 Session) Security of Health Information When Maximizing Accessibility and Usability
Matt Quinn, NIST, and David Baquis, US Accessibility Board

4:05-4:50 (Breakout A-2 Session) ONC Mobile Device Project
David Shepherd, LMI

4:05-4:50 (Breakout B-2 Session) Integrity Protections
Dan Rode, AHIMA

Thursday, June 7 (Day 2):

9:00-9:30 The Convergence of Privacy and Security in Protecting Health Information
Leon Rodriguez, Director, OCR

9:30-10:30 OCR Audit Program
Linda Sanches, OCR

10:45-11:45 HIPAA Security Rule Toolkit Use Case
Sue Miller, WEDI Security and Privacy Workgroup; Jim Sheldon-Dean, Lewis Creek Systems, LLC and Sherry Wilson, Jopari Solutions

1:00-2:00 Federal Data Breach Response of Health and Consumer Protected Information
David Holtzman, OCR, and Alain Sheer, FTC

2:00-3:00 Data Breach Strikes
Gerard Stegmaier, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati; and Paul Luehr Stroz Friedberg

3:15-4:00 Security Testing and Assessment Methodologies
Karen Scarfone, Scarfone Cybersecurity; and Richard Metzer, D.Sc. CISSP, Lockheed Martin

4:00-4:45 Meaningful Use Crosswalk to the Security Rule
Adam Greene, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

ONC and CMS @HIMSS12 Annual Conference & Exhibition — Las Vegas

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Mike Squires

Federals at HIMSS12 Annual Conference & Exhibition
February 20-24, 2012 · Las Vegas, NV
Accessed and excerpted from HealthIT.gov on Feb 18, 2012

Representatives from ONC, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and other Federal agencies will be at HIMSS to share information about their health IT initiatives. Below are highlights from the HIMSS schedule of events. For a complete list of participating Federal agencies and their educational sessions, visit the Federal section of the HIMSS12 website.

HIMSS Schedule of Events

Time	Location	Event
Monday, February 20, 2012
8:45-9:30 a.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – Opening Keynote HIE: The Next Generation and Beyond Doug Fridsma, Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability
9:30-10:30 a.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – Inter Agency Collaboration: A Federal Update John Allison, Health Insurance Specialist Claudia Williams, Director, State HIE Program
10:45-11:45 a.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – State Collaborations: Current Trends and Future Directions Lee Stevens, Program Manager, State HIE Program
11 a.m.-12 p.m.	San Paolo 3504	Physicians’ IT Symposium – Optimizing Your EHR Value Through Patient Engagement Judy Murphy, RN, Deputy National Coordinator
12:45-1:45 p.m.	Lando 4204	HIE Symposium – SLHIE: Moving from Planning to Implementation Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT Claudia Williams, Director, State HIE Program
1-2 p.m.	Veronese 2506	Achieving Meaningful Use Symposium – CMS and ONC Present Stage 2 Essential Knowledge Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS Steven Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC
1:30-2:30 p.m.	Veronese 2406	Performance Measurement and CDS Symposium: Leveraging CDS at the Point of Care to Optimize Quality Measure Outcomes Jacob Reider, MD, ONC Senior Policy Advisor
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Casanova 503	Health IT Update from HRSA Yael Harris, PhD, MHS, Director, Office of Health IT & Quality
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Lando 4303	Stage 2 Meaningful Use Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Galileo 1001	Direct Project Panel Discussion Moderator: Doug Fridsma, Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability
9:45-10:45 a.m.	TBD	HIE National Landscape, Monitoring States Momentum Moderator: Lee Stevens, Program Manager, State HIE Program
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	Casanova 503	CDC and Meaningful Use: Strengthening the Link Between Healthcare Providers and Public Health Seth Foldy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Senior Advisor, Public Health Surveillance & Informatics Program Office
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	Lando 4303	ONC Consumer Outreach/Pledge Initiative Lygeia Ricciardi, Senior Policy Advisor for Consumer e-Health
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	San Polo 3503	Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs: Meaningful Use Stage 1 Overview Travis Broome, Policy Analyst Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst
12:15-1:15 p.m.	San Polo 3503	Redefining Health Care: Advancing Patient-Centered Care Through Health IT Carolyn Clancy, MD, Director of AHRQ
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
8:30-9:30 a.m.	San Polo 3503	ONC Certification Programs – Update and Next Steps Doug Fridsma, Director, Office of Standards and Interoperability Steve Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division Carol Bean, Director, Certification Division
9:45-10:45 a.m.	San Polo 3503	Stage 2 Meaningful Use: An Introduction Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group, CMS Steve Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
1-2 p.m.	Casanova 503	Update on HIPAA Initiatives David Sayen, Regional Administrator, CMS Elizabeth Reed, Health Insurance Specialist, CMS
2:15-3:45 p.m.	San Polo 3503	ONC Townhall: Advancing Health IT Into the Future Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Thursday, February 23, 2012
8:30-9:30 a.m.	Palazzo Ballroom	Keynote speaker Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
9:45-10:45 a.m.	San Polo 3503	Privacy and Security – You Can Do It and Here’s How Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer, ONC
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Venetian Showroom	Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs: Stage 2 NPRM Overview Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Elizabeth Holland, Director, HIT Initiatives Group, CMS Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT, CMS Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS
1-2 p.m.	TBD	RECs: Accelerating Meaningful Use Kimberly Lynch, Director of the REC Program
1-2 p.m.	Lido 3106	Stage 2: Exchange of Information and Public Health Objectives Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT, CMS Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS Steven Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC
1-2 p.m.	Murano 3306	Consumer E-Technology in Action: Four Implementation Examples from Beacon Communities Korey Capozza, Utah Beacon Drew McNicol, Western New York Beacon Alan Snell, MD, Indiana Beacon Barbara Sorondo, Maine Beacon
2:15-3:15 p.m.	Marco Polo 705	IOM Study-Patient Safety Jacob Reider, MD, ONC Senior Policy Advisor
2:15-4:15 p.m.	San Polo 3503	Stage 2: Clinical Quality Measures Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Steve Posnack, Director, Federal Policy Division, ONC
Friday, February 24, 2012
10:00-11:00 a.m.	San Polo 3503	HIPAA Privacy and Security Regulations Leon Rodriguez, Director of OCR
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.	Venetian Showroom	Stage 2: Payment Adjustments and Changes from Stage 1 Travis Broome, Policy Analyst, CMS Robert Anthony, Policy Analyst, CMS

Theater Booth Sessions – Exhibit Hall, Booths 14624/14824

CMS and ONC will be presenting on special topics in health IT and meaningful use at the theater booth in the HIMSS exhibit hall.

Time	Presentation Topic
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
1:30-2:15 p.m.	Workforce: The Use of Immersive Learning Environments in Online HIT Technology
3:00-3:30 p.m.	Medicaid Patient Volume
4:00-5:45 p.m.	Beacon Communities: Bringing HITECH to Life – Beacon Project Highlights – IT-Enabled Care Coordination, HIT Infrastructure to Support Pioneer ACOs, and Mobile Technology in Support of Better Diabetes Management
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
9:45-10:30 a.m.	Query Health: Demonstrating How to Send Questions to the Data
11:00-11:30 a.m.	Overview and Timeline for Incentives and Payment Adjustments
12:00-12:45 p.m.	NwHN Exchange Opportunities and the Path Forward
2:45-3:30 p.m.	AHRQ: Model Children’s EHR Format
4:00-4:30 p.m.	FAQs on Stage 1 Meaningful Use
5:00-5:45 p.m.	The popHealth Challenge Demonstration: Patient Engagement Reminders for popHealth Measures
Thursday, February 23, 2012
10:00-10:30 a.m.	How States Are Auditing the Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.	Overview of Stage 2 Meaningful Use
3:00-3:45 p.m.	Privacy & Security: Privacy Protection for Substance Abuse Treatment Information
4:00-4:45 p.m.	Workforce: Using the ONC-HIT Teaching Materials

ONC “Talk to the Expert” Sessions – Exhibit Booth #14824

ONC will be hosting “Talk to the Expert” sessions at its exhibit booth. Stop by to learn about:

ONC resources
Certification and Standards/Interoperability
ONC’s Regional Extension Centers, Beacon, and Workforce programs.

Engage with ONC during the Conference Online

During HIMSS, ONC will be engaging people online through its social media properties by:

Hosting discussions on LinkedIn
Tweeting live from the event
Loading all of their handouts from the conference on Scribd

If you are not already a member of our LinkedIn group, or following us on Twitter (@ONC_HealthIT), sign up today to join the discussion!

Don’t forget to check out Scribd to download handouts from HIMSS!

For More Information

HIMSS12 website

Blumenthal’s Farewell Post: ONC’s Surprising FACAs

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Mike Squires

Dr. David Blumenthal Posts “ONC’s Surprising FACAs” on Health IT Buzz Blog
April 7, 2011, 3:25 pm / Written by Dr. David Blumenthal / National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Republished by e-Healthcare Marketing below.

I am often asked what has surprised me most during my tenure as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. There have been many surprises, but one thing clearly stands out: the extraordinary contributions of our Federal Advisory Committees (FACAs) and their many workgroups

I have served on, and been advised by, lots of volunteer committees in both the private and public sectors. Some have been helpful, some less so. But nothing prepared me for the magnificent way our Health Information Technology Policy Committee (HITPC) and Health Information Technology Standards Committee (HITSC) have performed, and the role they have played in implementing the HITECH Act. My hat’s off to the wise legislators who created these two statutory bodies under HITECH. And my deep thanks goes to the chairs and co-chairs of the committees, to the dedicated citizens and federal officials who have served on the FACAs and their workgroups over the last two years, as well as to Judy Sparrow, the ONC manager of our Federal Advisory Committees process.

As of the end of March, Judy had organized 368 meetings of the FACAs or their workgroups: the equivalent of a meeting every other day over a two-year period. Assuming three-hour meetings attended by 15 people (and many are longer and bigger), that amounts to more the 16,500 person hours of some of the most talented health information technology (HIT) experts in the country. The sheer volume of this work is extraordinary. But equally impressive have been their specific recommendations. These meetings have directly influenced numerous key policy decisions and regulations by the federal government. For example:

The basic structure and content of the meaningful use rule: The HITPC and its Meaningful Use Workgroup suggested the five major health goals that provided the organizing framework for meaningful use; many of the specific objectives for meaningful use; and the idea of injecting flexibility into the meaningful use regime by creating a core set of objectives and a menu set from which providers could chose.
The key standards that the Secretary adopted under the Interim Final Rule – setting forth standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for electronic health records (EHRs): The HITSC generated these standards based on previous work performed by the Health IT Standards Panel.
The structure of the certification process: The HITPC and its Adoption/Certification Workgroup proposed that the certification process be open and competitive, and that we create a streamlined temporary process quickly – to be followed by a more complicated permanent process – so as to get certified records into the market in time for the beginning of meaningful use. The federal government adopted all these recommendations.

Beyond these critical suggestions that have already influenced policy, the committees continue to generate wise, thought-provoking recommendations that ONC will carefully consider in the future. For example:

The concept that patients should have “meaningful choice” regarding the uses of their personal health information: Bypassing the common controversy over whether patients should be able to “opt-in” or “opt-out” of the electronic exchange of their data, the HITPC and its Privacy and Security Tiger Team focused on the bottom line. Patients should have the information they need to make informed choices over how their data are managed. The Committee also laid out a definition of the term meaningful choice.
The governance of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN): The HITPC and its Governance Workgroup recommended that in fulfilling the HITECH requirement to govern the NwHIN, ONC develop conditions of trust and interoperability that any organization must meet to participate in the federally sponsored Nationwide Health Information Network. The decision about whether to meet those conditions, and become a member of NwHIN, would be voluntary. Thus the NwHIN would have to prove its usefulness as a guarantor of the privacy and security of data and of effective interoperability – a very useful market test of the government’s NwHIN service.

ONC’s advisory groups have made and will continue to make many other contributions. All have taken shape in open meetings with opportunities for public comment. Indeed, in some ways, our FACAs have made policy development at ONC wiki-like – a ground up, participatory process in which the federal government has facilitated the work of a vast community of citizen experts.

This experience with the ONC FACAs raises the general question of why some federal advisory committees are more successful than others, but some key factors seem to have played a role. The HITECH legislation and the meaningful use framework gave the committees concrete deliverables and timelines. This made it easier to set priorities and push to consensus on numerous, complex, and potentially divisive issues. A second factor may have been the nature of the HIT community. Its members believe passionately in the value of information to make health and health care better, and they are ready to commit personal time and set aside personal agendas in service of creating a modern, electronic health information system for the United States.

Regardless of the reasons, the ONC FACAs have been a wonderful surprise. We could never have accomplished what we have without them. If HITECH reaches its potential, a lot of the credit will go to the hundreds of dedicated citizens who have contributed thousands of person-hours to make health care better for all Americans through HIT.

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In the January 2011 Annual Meeting of eHealth Initiative in Washington, DC, this blogger had the privilege of asking Dr. Blumenthal the first question after the National Coordinator delivered a keynote address. In short the question was “What’s most surprised you in your tenure as Coordinator?” Dr. Blumenthal paused for a moment, appearing to reflect, seemed to indicate it was the first time he had been asked the question, and he answered that the tremendous volunteer effort of the Health IT community in supporting the Office of the National Coordinator was the most surprising.

Blumenthal Blogs on HIT Taskforce Guidance on Federal Health IT

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Mike Squires

HIT Taskforce Guidance on Health IT
Friday, January 7th, 2011 | Posted by: Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health IT on ONC’s Health IT Buzz blog and reposted here by e-Healthcare Marketing.

In September 2010, Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer, and I issued guidance articulating five key health IT policy and technology principles for Federal health IT projects. The goal of these principles is to encourage better strategic alignment of health IT investments by guiding modernization strategies for existing systems, as well as new investment decisions. Agencies were asked to demonstrate how they plan to incorporate the following policy and technology principles into future health IT investments and to provide specific examples from their fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget submissions:

Improving health and health care: Agencies should design their health IT systems to support clinical decision-making and to measurably improve long term outcomes. For FY 2012, agencies will be asked to demonstrate their support for the universal attainment of Meaningful Use either by, if eligible, becoming Meaningful Users themselves or by assisting and encouraging others that are eligible, to become Meaningful Users.
Promoting open government: Agencies should share information with their clients/patients, when possible and practicable. An FY 2012 priority is providing clients/patients a secure, timely, electronic copy of their own information in a format they can use and reuse.
Securely sharing health information between providers for treatment purposes to enable better care: Agencies should ensure Federal HIT systems are interoperable. In FY 2012, agencies should use standards and specifications adopted under the HITECH Act in communicating between applications and organizations.
Being a trusted steward of taxpayer dollars: Agencies should incorporate interoperable voluntary consensus standards and terminologies where available, and contribute to their ongoing development, as their missions provide for and their resources permit. To this end, FY 2012 investments should use and re-use common, interoperable voluntary consensus standards and terminology, as well as employ modular, flexible solutions to ensure health IT systems are built for re-use and evolution.
Protecting privacy and security: Agencies should align their health IT investments with the Fair Information Practice Principles and demonstrate this alignment in FY 2012.

Following submission, agency plans underwent a rigorous peer review process, and representatives from HHS, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Social Security Administration, and Office of Personnel Management took an active role in evaluating the investments of the various Federal counterparts.

The development of principles and the use of peer review to review Federal health IT expenditures constitute a novel basis for coordinating these expenditures and providing the best possible advice to sister agencies. In the future, we hope that this process will result in valuable learning for managers of health IT in the Federal Government, and lead to better value for patients and taxpayers.
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To comment directly on this post, please go to ONC’s Health IT Buzz blog.

Blumenthal Reviews ONC’s 2010 Accomplishments on ONC Blog

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Mike Squires

2010 ONC Update Meeting: Advancing the Dialogue on Health IT
Monday, December 27th, 2010 | Posted by: Dr. David Blumenthal on ONC’s Health IT Buzz blog and republished here by e-Healthcare Marketing.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2010 ONC Update on December 14-15, 2010 where we had the opportunity to discuss ONC’s strategies and programs, hear about your experiences in the field, assess progress to date, and get caught up on HITECH’s implementation. Video-recordings of the webcast are now available through the ONC website at http://healthit.hhs.gov/ONCMeeting2010.

The 2010 ONC Update was held in conjunction with 2010 ONC Grantee Meeting which brought together for the first time the awardees of all of the ONC programs , including the Beacon Communities Program, Regional Extension Center Program, SHARP Program, State Health Information Exchange Program, and the many Workforce Development Programs.

This year, significant strides were made in health information technology. And for us, information technology has always been a means to an end, the end of improving health, improving the health system, making the lives of our fellow Americans better, making our nation’s health professionals and institutions able to live up to their aspirations, empowering Americans to have and take control of their own health and lives. These are the reasons why the Congress and the President enacted the HITECH Act and the reason that the Office of the National Coordinator exists today.

But, of course, there are many organizations and groups that have those high aspirations. Our unique contribution comes from a core insight that good intentions have to be powered by strong capabilities. And science and technology have created for us an enormously powerful new set of tools in the form of health information technology.

We are here to make sure that those tools are used fully to realize our collective aspirations. Information is the lifeblood of medicine. As health professionals and institutions, we are only as good as the information we have about the patients that we care for. Health IT is destined to be the circulatory system for that information in the decades to come.

The last several months have been a whirlwind of activity. And it is easy to forget how much we’ve accomplished. We established the meaningful use framework, one that I think is unprecedented in the history of electronic health information systems. No other country has laid out a similar framework for what can and should be accomplished using health information technology. And on January 3, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will launch the registration process for those who wish to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

We’ve issued a standards and certification regulation. As of this week, we have five certifying bodies that are available to certify electronic health records. They’ve certified more than 200 records and modules in the several months since they’ve been in existence.

Regional extension centers – 62 of them are working hard to provide hands-on assistance to those providers that need the most help in making this transition. As of this week, 30,000 physicians have already enrolled in these extension programs across the United States.

The State Health Information Exchange Program has provided 56 states and territories with planning grants. More than 20 of these states and territories have approved implementation plans, and new implementation plans are being approved every day.

Seventeen Beacon Communities are now in place. They didn’t exist a year ago. They are paving the way toward real improvements in health and health care in the communities they serve, leveraging health information technology. The SHARP Program is tackling new challenges through research and development.

And ONC’s Workforce Development Programs are preparing a whole new workforce and creating new jobs to support the transformation of our health care system through the use of information technology. To date, we have seen almost 2,300 new enrollees in community college programs and close to 400 in University‑based Training Programs focused on health information technology. And we are well on our way in these very early stages toward meeting that target of 10,000 new health professionals trained annually during the lifetime of the program.

In addition to our grants, we have dozens of contracts that are supporting programs like the Nationwide Health Information Network. And our Health IT Policy Committee and Health IT Standards Committee continue to provide enormously valuable guidance on the many policies and standards that are needed to support execution against our mission.

All of these efforts not only play a critical role in our strategy related to the improvement of health and health care through information technology, but also provide the foundation for health systems change and upcoming reforms in how we deliver and pay for care.

As we look to 2011, there will be many challenges. Driving change is hard. And it takes leadership, commitment and the ability to move forward – despite the many obstacles that each of you will encounter. I hope your sense of contributing something unique to health care and the American people – for most certainly you are – balances the incredibly hard work that you are undertaking. Someday you will look back and realize that you were present at the creation of something big.

Thanks again, and we look forward to our continued collaboration in the new year.
###To comment directly on ONC’s Health IT Buzz Blog, click here.
See Blumenthal Letter #22 on e-Healthcare Marketing.

Blumenthal Letter #22: Ready for Jan 3 EHR Incentives Registration?

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Mike Squires

Registration for EHR Incentive Programs
Starts January 3, 2011: Are You Ready?

Dr. David Blumenthal

A Message from Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
December 27, 2010
Published by ONC on 12/27/2010 and republished here.

The New Year is just around the corner, and so is another milestone in our nation’s work to improve health care through health information technology. Starting on January 3, 2011, eligible health care professionals, hospitals, and critical access hospitals may register to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

This is an auspicious time. Nearly two years ago, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law. Since then Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies like the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and others have implemented HITECH policies and programs to help providers adopt and achieve meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology and ensure that electronic health information remains private and secure.

[See Blumenthal's review of 2010, originally posted on ONC's Health IT Buzz blog.]

Why Become a Meaningful User?

Qualify for financial incentives from the federal government
Eligible professionals who demonstrate meaningful use have the opportunity to receive incentive payments through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs—up to $44,000 from Medicare, or $63,750 from Medicaid. Under both Medicare and Medicaid, eligible hospitals may receive millions of dollars for implementing and meaningfully using certified EHR technology. Providers can get started now with the help of financial incentives from the federal government. If they wait, those incentives may not be available. And financial penalties are scheduled to take effect in five years.

Build a sustainable medical practice
The next generation of health care professionals will expect and demand that their own medical facility home have a state-of-the-art information system. Becoming a meaningful user of electronic health records will allow providers who are building their practices to recruit and retain talented young clinicians.

Improve the safety and quality of health care
The meaningful use of electronic health records will help health care providers and hospitals offer higher quality and safer care. By adopting electronic health records in a meaningful way, providers and hospitals can:

See the whole picture. All of a patient’s health information—medical history, diagnoses, medications, lab and test results—is in one place. Providers don’t have to settle for a snapshot when they can have the entire album.

Coordinate care. Providers involved in a patient’s care can access, enter, and share information in an electronic health record.

Make better decisions. With more comprehensive health information at their fingertips, providers can make better testing, diagnostic, and treatment decisions.

Save time and money. Providers who have implemented electronic health records say they spend less time searching for paper charts, transcribing, calling labs or pharmacies, reporting, and fixing coding errors.

ONC and CMS: Here To Help

Registration for the incentive programs may be close at hand, but so is assistance. If you need help in registering for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs or selecting a certified EHR system, ONC and CMS have resources and services to help you.

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs website contains educational resources and fact sheets with information to help eligible professionals and hospitals adopt, implement, and upgrade certified EHR technology and demonstrate meaningful use to receive EHR incentive payments.
Regional Extension Centers, which cover every region of the country, provide on-the-ground technical assistance to health care providers working to adopt and meaningfully use certified EHR technology.
The Health IT Workforce Development Program prepares skilled workers for new jobs in health IT.

Connecting to Your Community
ONC also has other programs in place to help advance the meaningful use of certified EHR technology and health information exchange:

The Beacon Community Program provides funding to selected communities that demonstrate exceptional health IT infrastructure and exchange capability—and that can model best practices in health IT for others.
The State Health Information Exchange (HIE) Cooperative Agreement Program funds states’ efforts to rapidly increase connectivity and enable the flow of patient-centric information across the health care system—within and across states.
The Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) Program supports innovative research to address problems that impede the adoption of health IT.

As 2010 comes to a close, we are well on our way as a nation to achieving the benefits of widespread adoption of EHRs. If you haven’t made any preparations to register to receive incentive payments, I encourage you to get started now. Resolve today to become a meaningful user in 2011.

Sincerely,
David Blumenthal, MD, MPP
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) encourages you to share this information as we work together to enhance the quality, safety and value of care and the health of all Americans through the use of electronic health records and health information technology.

For more information and to receive regular updates from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, please subscribe to our Health IT News list.

Health IT Special Issue of The American Journal of Managed Care: Dec 2010

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Mike Squires

AJMC Publishes Health Information Technology Special Issue Online Dec 20, 2010
“Featuring scholarly articles and perspectives from policymakers, payers, providers, pharmaceutical companies, health IT vendors, health services researchers, patients, and medical educators, this [December 2010 special] issue of The American Journal of Managed Care is a reflection” of “the dramatic growth of interest in the potential for HIT to improve health and healthcare delivery,” writes Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA and David Blumenthal, MD, MPP in their introductory article titled “Health Information Technology Is Leading Multisector Health System Transformation.” Both Jain and Blumenthal are with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Authors of 23 Articles in Special Issue
Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA; and, David Blumenthal, MD, MPP; Cynthia L. Bero, MPH; and Thomas H. Lee, MD; Aaron McKethan, PhD; and Craig Brammer; John Glaser, PhD; Pete Stark; Newt Gingrich, PhD, MA; and Malik Hasan, MD; James N. Ciriello, MS; and Nalin Kulatilaka, PhD, MS; Seth B. Cohen, MBA, MPA; Kurt D. Grote, MD; Wayne E. Pietraszek, MBA; and Francois Laflamme, MBA; Amol S. Navathe, MD, PhD; and Patrick H. Conway, MD, MSc; Reed V. Tuckson, MD; Denenn Vojta, MD; and Andrew M. Slavitt, MBA; Marc M. Triola, MD; Erica Friedman, MD; Christopher Cimino, MD; Enid M. Geyer, MLS, MBA; Jo Wiederhorn, MSW; and Crystal Mainiero; Nancy L. Davis, PhD; Lloyd Myers, RPh; and Zachary E. Myers; Bryant A. Adibe, BS; and Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA; Spencer S. Jones, PhD; John L. Adams, PhD; Eric C. Schneider, MD; Jeanne S. Ringel, PhD; and Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhD; Jeffrey L. Schnipper, MD, MPH; Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH; Matvey B. Palchuk, MD, MS; D. Tony Yu, MD; Kerry E. McColgan, BA; Lynn A. Volk, MHS; Ruslana Tsurikova, MA; Andrea J. Melnikas, BA; Jonathan S. Einbinder, MD, MBA; and Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MS;Alexander S. Misono, BA; Sarah L. Cutrona, MD, MPH; Niteesh K. Choudhry, MD, PhD; Michael A. Fischer, MD, MS; Margaret R. Stedman, PhD; Joshua N. Liberman, PhD; Troyen A. Brennan, MD, JD; Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA; and William H. Shrank, MD, MSHS; Amir Dan Rubin, MBA, MHSA; and Virginia A. McFerran, MA; Fredric E. Blavin, MS; Melinda J. Beeuwkes Buntin, PhD; and Charles P. Friedman, PhD Robert D. Hill, PhD; Marilyn K. Luptak, PhD, MSW; Randall W. Rupper, MD, MPH; Byron Bair, MD; Cherie Peterson, RN, MS; Nancy Dailey, MSN, RN-BC; and Bret L. Hicken, PhD, MSPH; Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH; Jeffrey L. Schnipper, MD, MPH; Ruslana Tsurikova, Msc, MA; D. Tony Yu, MD, MPH; Lynn A. Volk, MHS; Andrea J. Melnikas, MPH; Matvey B. Palchuk, MD, MS; Maya Olsha-Yehiav, MS; and Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MSc; Emily Ruth Maxson, BS; Melinda J. Beeuwkes Buntin, PhD; and Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM; Daniel C. Armijo, MHSA; Eric J. Lammers, MPP; and Dean G. Smith, PhD; Katlyn L. Nemani, BA.

Look for an upcoming post on e-Healthcare Marketing reviewing this special issue of AJMC.

Test Procedures for EHR Temp Certification finalized with Errata: Version 1.1 published 12/3

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Mike Squires

Approved Test Procedures Version 1.1
This information was published on NIST site on 12/3/2010, and accessed 12/7/2010.

12/3 UPDATE – NIST has published errata for the Approved Test Procedures, Version 1.1. The errata documents contain technical corrections based on public feedback. Test procedures that have errata issued are noted in the table below. [Each errata in table refers to the test procedure above it.]

The Approved Test Procedures, Version 1.1, as well as associated erratum, are effective for use in the ONC Temporary Certification Program on October 24, 2010. Descriptions of the specific changes are found in the Version 1.1 Release Notes.

The Version 1.1 update constitutes the final development update to the Approved Test Procedures. Future updates will be done through a maintenance process and release schedule. Maintenance updates will primarily be based on the need for minor technical corrections or ONC policy direction. Updated test procedures will be released on a 6 month schedule. The next test procedure release (version 2) is anticipated in April, 2011.

The Final Rule and related information is found at http://healthit.hhs.gov.

Questions about the applicability of the initial set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria should be directed to ONC at ONC.Certification@hhs.gov. Questions about the test procedures should be directed to NIST at hit-tst-fdbk@nist.gov. Note that NIST will automatically forward to ONC at the address above any questions regarding the applicability of the standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria. Questions about functions and activities of the ATCBs should be directed to ONC at ONC.Certification@hhs.gov

Criteria #	Certification Criteria	Test Method	Date Published
§170.302 (a)	Drug-drug, drug-allergy interaction checks	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (b)	Drug formulary checks	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (c)	Maintain up-to-date problem list	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (d)	Maintain active medication list	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (e)	Maintain active medication allergy list	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (f)(1)	Vital signs	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (f)(2)	Calculate body mass index	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (f)(3)	Plot and display growth charts	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (g)	Smoking status	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (h)	Incorporate laboratory test results	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (i)	Generate patient lists	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (j)	Medication reconciliation	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (k)	Submission to immunization registries	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (l)	Public health surveillance	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (m)	Patient specific education resources	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (n)	Automated measure calculation	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (o)	Access control	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (p)	Emergency access	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (q)	Automatic log-off	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (r)	Audit log	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (s)	Integrity	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (t)	Authentication	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (u)	General encryption	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.302 (v)	Encryption when exchanging electronic health information	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.302 (w)	Accounting of disclosures (optional)	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.304 (a)	Computerized provider order entry	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.304 (b)	Electronic Prescribing	Test Procedure:	10/01/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.304 (c)	Record demographics	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.304 (d)	Patient reminders	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.304 (e)	Clinical decision support	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.304 (f)	Electronic copy of health information	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.304 (g)	Timely access	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.304 (h)	Clinical summaries	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.304 (i)	Exchange clinical information and patient summary record	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.304 (j)	Calculate and submit clinical quality measures	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.306 (a)	Computerized provider order entry	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.306 (b)	Record demographics	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.306 (c)	Clinical decision support	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.306 (d)(1)	Electronic copy of health information	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.306 (d)(2)	Electronic copy of health informationNote: For discharge summary	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.306 (e)	Electronic copy of discharge instructions	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.306 (f)	Exchange clinical information and patient summary record	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.306 (g)	Reportable lab results	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
		Errata:	12/03/2010
§170.306 (h)	Advance directives	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010
§170.306 (i)	Calculate and submit clinical quality measures	Test Procedure:	09/24/2010

ONC’s Bean Blogs: Certified EHR Technology Now Available: The Road to Meaningful Use Just Got Easier

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Mike Squires

Certified EHR Technology Now Available: The Road to Meaningful Use Just Got Easier
**Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 | Posted by: Carol Bean on ONC’s Health IT Buzz Blog and reposted here by e-Healthcare Marketing.**

Health care providers who are eligible to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs now have a new tool to help them on their road to meaningful use. As of November, ONC’s official Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) identifies EHR technologies that have been tested and certified as being technically capable of supporting those providers’ achievement of meaningful use based on Stage 1 criteria outlined in HHS rules published on July 28 of this year.

The CHPL now includes more than 90 certified EHR technologies, and the list continues to grow.

A couple of important points about the CHPL:

ONC maintains the CHPL, which is the authoritative, comprehensive, aggregate list of all the EHR technologies certified by an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). EHR technologies that have been certified by ONC-ATCBs and appear on CHPL are eligible to be used for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, and will be given a reporting number for that purpose. At the time of registration or attestation with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), eligible providers can use those reporting numbers as part of qualifying for EHR incentive payments. (This part of the process is shown on the CMS timeline for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs milestones.)
The Certified Health IT Product List is a snapshot of currently certified EHR technologies. Each Complete EHR and EHR Module on the CHPL has been certified by an ONC-ATCB and reported to ONC. This list is regularly updated as newly certified EHR technologies are reported to ONC.

HHS Resources for Successful Adoption of Certified EHR Technology

With certified EHR technologies now available, eligible health care providers can tap into the other resources HHS has developed to help them adopt and meaningfully use certified EHR technology.

Those resources include:

Regional Extension Centers to provide on-the-ground technical assistance across the country
The Health IT Workforce Development Program to prepare skilled workers for new jobs in health IT
The Beacon Communities Program to highlight best practices
The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs website. This CMS website contains educational resources and fact sheets with complete program information to help eligible providers adopt and demonstrate meaningful use and receive incentive payments.

These programs support certification policies and processes, all with the ultimate goal of improving the nation’s health through the use of EHR technology and other health information technology.

Re-Cap of ONC EHR Certification Policies and Programs

June to August

ONC established the Temporary Certification Program to authorize organizations to test and certify EHR technology and to establish the processes used for that purpose.

ONC published the Standards and Certification Criteria Final Rule. This rule outlined the capabilities EHR technologies must include to support achievement of meaningful use Stage 1 under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

September

The first ONC Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies were named under the Temporary Certification Program and began testing and certifying EHR technologies based on criteria outlined in the Standards and Certification Criteria Final Rule.

October

ONC published the current Version 1.0 of the Certified Health IT Product List, which lists the EHR products that have been tested and certified under the Temporary Certification Program to the certification criteria adopted by the Secretary and that have been reported to and validated by ONC. In some cases EHR products will have been tested and certified to all applicable adopted certification criteria necessary to meet the definition of certified EHR technology (i.e., those designated Complete EHRs); in other cases they will have been tested and certified to a subset of all of the applicable adopted certification criteria (i.e., those designated EHR Modules), which do not on their own meet the regulatory definition of certified EHR technology.

Version 2.0 of the Certified Health IT Product List is under development and will be available in early 2011. It will provide both additional information, such as a list of the Clinical Quality Measures to which a given product was tested; as well as additional functionality, such as different ways to query and sort the data for viewing. It is also Version 2.0 of the CHPL that will be able to provide the number for reporting to CMS as described above.

As we move forward, we welcome your comments about our efforts and your experiences with implementing health IT.
###

To comment directly on this ONC Health IT Buzz Blog post, click here.

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National Health IT Week: Sept 10-14, 2012

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