Source: Healthcare IT News
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is offering new money for innovations around AI data quality and technology adoption for behavioral health. In a new special emphasis notice under its ongoing Leading Edge Acceleration Projects in Health IT initiative, ONC says it’s offering funding for fiscal year 2024, seeking applications related to two distinct priorities for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: artificial intelligence and behavioral health. Earlier this year, ONC published the HTI-1 final rule, which establishes transparency requirements for AI and other predictive algorithms incorporated into certified health IT products. Meanwhile, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has also recently launched its Behavioral Health Information Technology Initiative, which aims to invest more than $20 million of SAMHSA money to advance health IT in behavioral healthcare settings. The new LEAP in Health IT funding is meant to support both those goals, according to ONC, which says it expects to issue one cooperative agreement award of up to $1 million for each area of interest.