Health IT has become integral to health care delivery and this trend has accelerated since the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. Hundreds of thousands of physician offices, hospitals, and health systems now use ONC-certified health IT to store, process, access, exchange, and use electronic health information (EHI), setting the groundwork for nationwide interoperability. A new report to Congress provides updates on this progress led and coordinated by ONC.

The draft 2024–2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan [PDF – 2.3 MB] (the draft Plan) is now open for public comment. The public comment period on the draft Plan ends on May 28, 2024 at 11:59:59 PM ET.
The draft Plan is a comprehensive and strategic effort developed by ONC in collaboration with more than 25 federal organizations.

Last year, ONC wrapped up the SDOH Information Exchange Learning Forum, a series of webinars focused on social determinants of health (SDOH) information exchange. The sessions are part of our ongoing work to engage and empower communities to advance SDOH interoperability consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions to improve health and well-being by addressing SDOH. The sessions built upon earlier ONC-supported activities including the development of an SDOH Information Exchange Toolkit.

A recent ONC blog post showed physicians have widespread access to data from their state’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). According to a 2021 national survey of office-based physicians, more than three-quarters of physician prescribers reported checking the PDMP prior to prescribing controlled substances to a patient for the first time. Prescriber use laws and ongoing efforts to integrate electronic health record (EHR) systems with state PDMPs likely contributed to high levels of PDMP use among physicians.