ONC progress report addresses HIT goals
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has released a report updating its progress on five goals outlined in its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2011-2015, which was published in March 2011 by the previous national coordinator, David Blumenthal.
That plan included the following five health IT goals:
- Achieving adoption and information exchange by meaningfully using health IT;
- Improving care and population health while reducing costs via health IT;
- Focusing on ways to improve privacy and security of health information, and expanding ways to increase provider and public understanding of electronic health information and related privacy and security rights under current law;
- Recognizing the importance of empowering individuals with access to their electronic health information through useful tools as a part of patient-centered care; and
- Achieving rapid learning and technology advancement.
ONC's progress report details efforts related to each of the goals:
- For goal No. 1: 56 states, eligible territories and qualified entities were awarded funding to increase connectivity and enable "patient-centric" data flow which has led to improved care quality. In addition, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with public and private partners, has developed standards and specifications that support secure information exchange in alignment with the Meaningful Use EHR Incentive Program requirements.
- For goal No. 2: 17 Beacon Communities were formed and are serving as "test beds" for the use of health IT for boosting quality while reducing costs. "Several Beacon Communities are providing infrastructure for new payment models for accountability and care coordination," the report reads. "These communities are demonstrating how technology enables high value healthcare."
- For goal No. 3: HHS just unveiled its health IT safety plan last month, which is designed to eliminate errors related to technology and imrpove patient safety. HHS also is working to "foster widespread use of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Common Format documents to identify and describe safety issues associated with the use of health IT," the report says.
- For goal No. 4: Stage 2 of Meaningful Use requires providers to ensure that patients are able to to view, download and transmit their health information to a third party. The report also extols the various Blue Button efforts, geared to help patients easily access their own records.
- For goal No. 5: ONC's Strategic Healthcare IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) Program "funds collaborative research projects with prominent academic institutions, aimed at developing breakthrough technology solutions" for boosting care. The report also covers efforts such as the HIT Trailblazer States project, which "facilitates the sharing of best practices and tools between states" while also helping to connect states with relevant federal work regarding standards and clinical quality measures.
Despite the achievements, "many challenges remain," according to the report.
Access the complete report here.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.