A vision for the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan (2015-2020) is the backbone of many initiatives emerging from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the interoperability roadmap, the precision medicine initiative and the agency’s move toward pay-for-performance, according to speakers at the Office of the National Coordinator’s (ONC’s) Annual Meeting on Feb. 2.

The strategic plan was shaped by input from 35 different federal partners and private stakeholders. Discussions revealed “just how personal and human the experience of health IT is…People just couldn't help sharing personal stories about what really what drove them and their motivation for caring about health IT,” said Seth Pazinski, director of ONC's Office of Planning, Evaluation and Analysis.

The plan looks beyond healthcare to health, and beyond Meaningful Use to look more broadly at investments across federal agencies, he said.

“The principles reflected in the plan try to guide federal agencies as they implement different policies and programs towards the outcomes articulated in the plan. This is really about focusing on value from health IT investments as well as respecting individual choices and creating the expectation that electronic health information is expected throughout the country,” he said.

The plan’s first goal is advancing health IT adoption. Usability of health IT and how it can improve safety are important components of this goal, Pazinski said.  

The second goal, which is related to interoperability, is ensuring that data can be shared throughout the health system in a way that's private and secure. Adoption also entails a general communications infrastructure for the country that can support the collection and sharing of that data, he said.

Goal three supports HHS’ recently announced delivery system reform efforts. “That's making sure that we're incentivizing high-value care as well as moving the country towards a focus on population health in addition to clinical healthcare.” The fourth goal is about enabling patients outside the healthcare system to manage and support their own health through self-generated data tools, as well as contributing to their own records.

Goal five seeks to harness useful federal datasets and translate evidence more quickly into the practice of care. The White House’s recently unveiled precision medicine initiative is part of this effort.

Outcomes assigned to each objective include three- and six-year focus areas. “The primary purpose of these was to make sure that we got clarity around which agencies were making contributions to those specific outcomes,” Pazinski said.

Barclay Butler, the director of healthcare technology integration at the Defense Health Agency (DHA), shared why his agency became engaged with the strategic plan and interoperability roadmap.

The DHA is a combat support agency that serves 10 million beneficiaries and encompasses 54 hospitals and 380,000 network providers. “That's about $10 billion of care on an annual basis. Boy, do we need interoperability,” he said.

Interoperability is required for effective use of the DoD's EHR system. It’s “a readiness issue,” he said. Also, it’s important for continuity of care for all of its beneficiaries. 

Integrating services within the Army, Navy and medical departments—as well as the agency’s fully accredited medical school—highlights the importance of health IT. “Let me tell you that shared services is tough to do. We don't have the answers to it, but we know that it's important and something that we want to continue along not just in the Defense Health Agency but in the federal space.”

Butler said the latest strategic plan is about moving health IT from a focus on adoption to a focus on creating value. With each goal in the plan, “we’re almost seeing an order of magnitude jump at every step.”

HHS is accepting comments on the plan, published in December 2014, through Feb. 6.