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Electronic Health & Medical Records, Health IT, Health IT Safety, Public Health Using Health IT to Support Safer Use and Management of Controlled Substance Prescriptions
Chelsea Richwine | June 8, 2022
New ONC data show that, as of 2021, nearly all non-federal acute care hospitals were enabled to electronically prescribe controlled substances (EPCS).
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Inside ONC ONC Staff Profiles – Carmen Smiley
Carmen Smiley | June 7, 2022
The Office of the National Coordinator is launching a new blog series featuring ONC staff called Inside ONC. Inside ONC will highlight an inclusive landscape of ONC staff members, a variety of positions, and the diverse backgrounds of those working within ONC.
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Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, Health IT Certification, Interoperability 13 Areas to Improve Electronic Prior Authorization
Alex Baker | May 31, 2022
In January 2022, ONC issued a Request for Information (RFI) that sought public input on the ONC Health IT Certification Program and how it could incorporate standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria related to electronic prior authorization. Shortly thereafter, ONC charged the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) with providing input and recommendations in response to this RFI. The Electronic Prior Authorization (ePA) RFI Task Force of the HITAC led consideration of the charge and developed a report and recommendations that were recently approved by the full HITAC.
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Information Blocking Information Blocking and the President’s FY23 Budget for ONC
Steven Posnack | May 24, 2022
While the federal government’s budget planning processes may have a certain mystique to them, some interesting tidbits are always in federal agency budgets if you know where to look. Fear not, because this blog post highlights a new legislative proposal associated with information blocking that’s been put forward by the Biden-Harris Administration for HHS. Specifically, the Administration has requested that Congress provide HHS with the authority to issue binding “advisory opinions” for the information blocking regulations as part of our implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act).
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Health IT, ONC Funded Projects Building the Public Health Informatics Workforce of the Future
Sherilyn Pruitt | May 17, 2022
As we continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as a nation, it has been made clear that we are also in the midst of a critical public health workforce shortage. The pandemic has highlighted key areas for improving the nation’s public health infrastructure and increasing the number of highly trained public health informatics and technology professionals. In January 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration released an Executive Order to create a unified public health workforce strategy that will expand and build capacity so we can better respond to future pandemics and biological threats.
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