Welcome to the Health IT Buzz Blog
Learn more about HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
From the ONC Desk Moving Toward Improved Care Through Information
Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo | April 27, 2016
Seven years ago, Congress passed a law to spur the country to digitize the health care experience for Americans and connect doctor’s practices and hospitals, thereby modernizing patient care through the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Incentive Programs, also known as “Meaningful Use.” Before this shift began, many providers did not have the capital to invest in health information technology and patient information was siloed in paper records. Since then, we have made incredible progress, with nearly all hospitals and three-quarters of doctors using EHRs.
Read Full Post.
Regional Extension Centers Regional Extension Centers – Essential On-The-Ground Support for EHR Adoption
Thomas A. Mason | April 12, 2016
Today the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is releasing a comprehensive evaluation of the Regional Extension Center (REC) program and we’re excited to announce that our efforts have already made a major impact.
Read Full Post.
Interoperability Help Inform the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Measurement of Interoperability
Seth Pazinski | April 7, 2016
Today, we are asking for your input on ways to measure the progress toward a future where health information is flowing between providers and patients to supports a health system that provides better care, smarter spending, and healthier people. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) declares it a national objective to achieve the widespread exchange of health information through the use of interoperable certified electronic health records and directs HHS to establish metrics in consultation with you – the health IT community – to see if that objective has been met.
Read Full Post.
Precision Medicine NIH and ONC Launch the Sync for Science (S4S) Pilot: Enabling Individual Health Data Access and Donation
Jon White | March 21, 2016
S4S pilots are coming!
On February 25, 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in collaboration with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), announced the launch of Sync for Science (S4S), a pilot to allow individuals to access their health data and send it to researchers in support of the goals of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI). Individual data donation will be a key component of the PMI Cohort Program,
Interoperability, Techlab The ONC Tech Lab: Standards Coordination
Steven Posnack | March 16, 2016
Our previously published blog post about the ONC Tech Lab explained how it would guide our approach to standards and technology and help lay the operational groundwork within ONC necessary to implement the Interoperability Roadmap, our near-term health IT strategy, and the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan. We described that through the ONC Tech Lab we would address four focus areas: 1) standards coordination; 2) testing and utilities; 3) pilots; and 4) innovation.
Read Full Post.