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The Federal Advisory Committees are seeking comments on the incorporation of patient-generated data for Meaningful Use Stage 3 and ways to advance clinical quality for Meaningful Use Stage 3.

Joint Hearing to Conceptualize Clinical Quality for Meaningful Use Stage 3
Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 | Posted by: Kevin Larsen, M.D., Medical Director of Meaningful Use | Category: HIT Policy Committee, HIT Standards Committee

Recognizing the importance of evolving quality concepts within the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, two ONC federal advisory committee workgroups jointly held a full day hearing on June 7, 2012 to identify ways in which Meaningful Use Stage 3 may advance the consistent delivery of high quality care in diverse care settings. Experts from health care delivery organizations, quality improvement organizations, industry, and academia shared insights regarding how clinical decision support, quality measurement, and the use of clinical data can improve care. Participants encouraged an increased focus on the dynamic ability to ask questions and get answers about patient populations, the use of clinical decision support as an “in-the-moment quality improvement” mechanism, and a transition from retrospective reporting to prospective identification of care improvement opportunities.

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Federal Advisory Committees Seeking Input on Incorporation of Patient-Generated Data for Stage 3 Meaningful Use
Monday, June 18th, 2012 | Posted by: Joshua Seidman, PhD, Director, Meaningful Use, ONC | Category: FACA, HIT Policy Committee, HIT Standards Committee

ONC’s federal advisory committees (FACAs) held a full-day hearing on June 8 (written testimony can be found here) to explore how patient-generated health data (PGHD) might be incorporated into Meaningful Use (MU) of EHRs for Stage 3 of the EHR Incentive Programs. Some examples of PGHD are data from a patient’s personal health record, data from a blood glucose monitor, or information about a patient’s functional status. Three FACA workgroups hosted the hearing: The Health IT Policy Committee’s MU and Quality Measurement Workgroups, and the Health IT Standards Committee’s Consumer Engagement Power Team.

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Kudos to Our Federal Advisory Committees
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 | Posted by: Judy Murphy, RN, Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy | Category: FACA

Judy Murphy photoThe Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is very proud of the two federal advisory committees that we support: The Health IT Policy and the Health IT Standards Committees. Created by the HITECH Act to provide input on the policies and technologies needed to improve health and care, the Committees, as noted in a recent blog post by David Kibbe and Brian Klepper Exit Disclaimer , are an invaluable resource. Through their open meetings and hearings, they promote transparency in ONC policy development and build support and ownership among key private-sector stakeholders in ONC policies and programs. They are a direct channel for private and public sector health IT leaders and the public to offer input into U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) processes for developing policies and regulations.

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HITSC Seeks Comments on Exchange Specifications by December 15, 2011
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 | Posted by: Avinash Shanbhag | Category: FACA

The Health Information Technology Standards Committee (HITSC) is a federal advisory committee that advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) on federal health information technology standards issues to enable secure health information exchange using Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). The ONC has defined the NwHIN as “the set of standards, services and policies that enable secure health information exchange over the Internet”.

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The HIT Standards Committee’s Implementation Workgroup Seeks Comments on the EHR Temporary Certification Program, Stage 1 Meaningful Use, by June 17, 2011
Thursday, May 12th, 2011 | Posted by: Judy Murphy and Liz Johnson Co-Chairs HIT Standards Implementation Workgroup | Category: FACA, HIT Standards Committee

I. Background

The Health Information Technology Standards Committee (HITSC) is a federal advisory committee that advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) on federal HIT standards issues, including electronic health record (EHR) certification criteria and implementation specifications for the meaningful use of EHRs for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. Eligible professionals (EP) and eligible hospitals (EH) who seek to qualify for incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs are required by statute to use Certified EHR Technology.  Once certified, Complete EHRs and EHR Modules can be used by EPs and EHs, or be combined, to meet the statutory requirement for Certified EHR Technology.

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Privacy & Security Tiger Team Seeks Feedback on Framework for Electronic Health Information Exchange
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 | Posted by: Deven McGraw and Paul Egerman | Category: FACA

The Privacy and Security Tiger Team is continuing its efforts to flesh out a comprehensive privacy and security policy framework for electronic health information exchange. The framework is intended to build on current law (HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and is based on the fair information practice principles articulated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in its “Nationwide Privacy and Security Framework for Electronic Exchange of Individually Identifiable Health Information” (first released on December 15, 2008).   

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HIT Policy Committee’s Certification/Adoption Workgroup Seeks Comment by April 29.
Monday, April 18th, 2011 | Posted by: Marc Probst and Larry Wolf Usability Hearing Co-Chairs | Category: FACA, HIT Policy Committee

Electronic health record (EHR) usability is the topic of this week’s Health IT Policy Committee hearing on April 21 in Washington, D.C. It’s an important topic that draws both a great deal of attention and diverse responses from the health information technology (health IT) stakeholders. Among other things, usability affects the efficiency of providers, the safety of the care they provide, and the cost of training and support. 

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Policy Committee Seeks Public Comment on Potential Stage 2 Meaningful Use Objectives
Thursday, January 13th, 2011 | Posted by: Joshua Seidman, PhD, Director, Meaningful Use, ONC | Category: FACA, HIT Policy Committee

The Health IT Policy Committee (HITPC) held six public hearings in 2010 related to the future definition of “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs). The hearings included testimony from several dozen stakeholders. The HITPC also received dozens of public comments via this blog. All of this input helped to inform its many hours of public deliberations regarding the future vision of MU (e.g., stage 3) as well as the interim stepping stone of stage 2 MU that will set expectations for 2013 and 2014.

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ONC Seeks Comment on Standards and Interoperability Framework Initiatives by December 23, 2010
Friday, December 10th, 2010 | Posted by: Jonathan Perlin MD and John Halamka MD Chair Co-Chair HIT Standards Committee | Category: FACA, HIT Standards Committee

Standards & Interoperability Framework Initiatives

The Health IT Standards Committee (HITSC) would like your thoughts and comments on new initiatives being considered by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) through the Standards and Interoperability (S&I) Framework.

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Quality Measures Workgroup Seeks Comment on Clinical Quality Measures Concepts for Stage 2 and Stage 3 Meaningful Use by December 31, 2010
Monday, December 6th, 2010 | Posted by: David Lansky Chair of the Quality Measures Workgroup | Category: FACA, HIT Policy Committee

The HIT Policy Committee (a federal advisory committee that advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) formed the Quality Measures Workgroup to recommend new clinical quality measures to leverage the evolving health IT infrastructure. The Quality Measures Workgroup is developing recommendations on clinical quality measures for Stage 2 and Stage 3 Meaningful Use. The Workgroup was divided into five tiger teams to focus on the following measure domains: Patient and Family Engagement, Clinical Appropriateness/Efficiency, Care Coordination, Patient Safety, and Population and Public Health.

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