ONC: New metadata tagging initiative coming
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) noted in a recent blog post that the new metadata tagging initiatives are being launched to create patient consent management controls.
An advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) published Aug. 9 requests public input on a set of proposed metadata standards recommendations to ONC by the HIT Standards Committee. Public comment is due by 5 p.m. on Sept. 23.
The ANPRM said the immediate scope is the association of metadata with summary care records. In this scenario, a patient obtains a summary care record from a healthcare provider’s EHR technology or requests for it to be transmitted to their personal health record. "Public comment, however, is also welcome on the use of metadata relative to other electronic health information contexts."
“To better inform future proposals, we expressed our interest in learning about stakeholders’ relevant metadata implementation experience and requested public comment on the results of any real-life testing or use of the metadata standards discussed in the ANPRM,” National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD, noted in an August blog post. “The ANPRM builds upon the recommendations of the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees on how ONC could accelerate health information exchange consistent with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) vision outlined in a December 2010 report. PCAST proposed a health information exchange in which patients and providers are able to privately and securely exchange health information across organizational boundaries," Mostashari’s post said.
ONC is considering prototypes and pilots to test its recommendations. “Two of these initiatives–the Query Health initiative and the Data Segmentation initiative–are slated to launch through the Standards and Interoperability framework this fall,” he said.
The details of the initiatives are:
“We are also actively piloting the concepts included in the PCAST report through our state health information exchange [HIE] program. The Indiana HIE Challenge Grant, through the Regenstrief Institute, is developing tools and approaches to capture, index and search metadata, parsing information from patient summary care records. This will allow more detailed query at the data element level,” Mostashari said. “The approach builds on existing data flows from legacy systems while using middleware and improved metadata to increase searchability and usefulness of patient level information by clinicians.”
An advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) published Aug. 9 requests public input on a set of proposed metadata standards recommendations to ONC by the HIT Standards Committee. Public comment is due by 5 p.m. on Sept. 23.
The ANPRM said the immediate scope is the association of metadata with summary care records. In this scenario, a patient obtains a summary care record from a healthcare provider’s EHR technology or requests for it to be transmitted to their personal health record. "Public comment, however, is also welcome on the use of metadata relative to other electronic health information contexts."
“To better inform future proposals, we expressed our interest in learning about stakeholders’ relevant metadata implementation experience and requested public comment on the results of any real-life testing or use of the metadata standards discussed in the ANPRM,” National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD, noted in an August blog post. “The ANPRM builds upon the recommendations of the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees on how ONC could accelerate health information exchange consistent with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) vision outlined in a December 2010 report. PCAST proposed a health information exchange in which patients and providers are able to privately and securely exchange health information across organizational boundaries," Mostashari’s post said.
ONC is considering prototypes and pilots to test its recommendations. “Two of these initiatives–the Query Health initiative and the Data Segmentation initiative–are slated to launch through the Standards and Interoperability framework this fall,” he said.
The details of the initiatives are:
- Query Health initiative: The Query Health initiative will define and deliver the standards and services for distributed population health queries from certified EHRs and community records originating in the routine course of patient care. As a result, requesters will be able to create and securely distribute queries to network data partners who subscribe to the published queries. The initiative will provide population analyses to inform clinical and payment strategies for health systems and physician practices, in alignment with the HITECH and Affordable Care Acts.
- Data Segmentation initiative: The offices of the Chief Privacy Officer and Standards and Interoperability are planning an initiative on data segmentation of sensitive information. This project will make progress on the persistent privacy issues raised in the PCAST report. The goal of this project is for the implementation and management of health information disclosure policies originating from a patient’s request, statutory and regulatory authority or organizational disclosure requirements.
“We are also actively piloting the concepts included in the PCAST report through our state health information exchange [HIE] program. The Indiana HIE Challenge Grant, through the Regenstrief Institute, is developing tools and approaches to capture, index and search metadata, parsing information from patient summary care records. This will allow more detailed query at the data element level,” Mostashari said. “The approach builds on existing data flows from legacy systems while using middleware and improved metadata to increase searchability and usefulness of patient level information by clinicians.”