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.  (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

The Governance Workgroup (Workgroup) is developing recommendations on governance mechanisms for the nationwide health information network.  The Workgroup identified overarching objectives, key principles and core functions for governance in its Preliminary Report and Recommendations on the Scope of Governance [PDF – 94 KB] presented to the HIT Policy Committee on October 20^th.  (more…)

The Information Exchange Working Group (IE WG) of the Health IT Policy Committee has been charged with identifying and recommending solutions to barriers standing in the way of rapid nationwide adoption of health information exchange.  The focus is both on barriers that prevent individual health care providers from efficiently and effectively conducting health information exchange transactions, as well as on obstacles that impede States and/or State Designated Entities from being effective enablers of health information exchange. (more…)

The HITPC Governance Workgroup is charged with developing a set of recommendations on the scope and process of governance for the nationwide health information network, including measures to ensure accountability and oversight.  The Workgroup will hold a hearing September 28^th to gather input.  For more information about the hearing, please visit http://healthIT.hhs.gov/FACAs.  The Workgroup also welcomes written comments from the public on the questions it has asked hearing panelists to address. (more…)

On July 21, the HIT Policy Committee held a meeting in Washington, DC. Following Dr. Blumenthal’s opening remarks Paul Tang approved the minutes from the previous meeting and reviewed the upcoming agenda. (more…)