New This Week on HealthIT.gov

In This Issue

ONC at #HIMSS14

Heading to #HIMSS14? ONC has a slate of sessions beginning Monday with a Town Hall meeting at 10 am Orlando time (EST). Take a look and fit us into your schedule. It all culminates Thursday with the Keynote addresses by National Coordinator Dr. Karen DeSalvo and CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. Still haven’t decided what you want to see and do? Use this nifty mobile tracker to find your way around and plan your time wisely. See you there!

HITECH Turns 5

ONC marked a major milestone this week with the five-year anniversary of the Health Information Technology and Economic and Clinical Health Act or HITECH. In a blog post celebrating the anniversary, National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo writes: "In the years since HITECH, our nation’s health professionals, patients and hospitals have made strong progress adopting and meaningfully using health IT. As of December, 83 percent of the nation's eligible professionals and 94 percent of eligible hospitals have signed up for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Programs."

Dallas Children’s Medical Center Liberating Data

Children’s Medical Center Dallas is among the first health systems in the nation liberating patient data to support children living with Sickle Cell Disease. We think they are truly making a difference using Health IT to transform the delivery of care. Check outour blog post and watch the video!

Spanish Model Privacy Notice

ONC, working with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), released Spanish language versions of Model Notices of Privacy Practices for use by health care providers and health plans. These model notices provide patients and health plan subscribers with culturally competent information about their rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. The model notices reflect the regulatory changes of the 2013 Omnibus Rule and can serve as the baseline for covered entities working to come into compliance with the new requirements. In particular, the models highlight the new patient right to access their electronic information held in an electronic health record, if their provider uses an EHR. Language barriers impact the ability of individuals to access health care services, and providing information to patients in their primary language helps enable meaningful access to health care. HHS has provided these model notices for health plans and health care providers to help them better serve their Spanish-speaking patients and plan members. Take a minute to read the model notices in Spanish.

Getting First Responders Wired

ONC co-hosted a meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) on Health Information Exchanges and the Pre-hospital Environment on February 4, 2014. This meeting brought together stakeholders in the emergency medical services (EMS) community to discuss improving exchange of data between EMS, HIE, and EHR systems. We would like to continue the conversation on action items that came out of the meeting, and invite you to visit the ASPR Collaboration Community on IdeaScaleand provide your input.

New Data Briefs

ONC released two Data Briefs highlighting key results from the National Survey on Health Information Exchange in Clinical Laboratories. The Data Briefs looks at the current landscape of electronic test result delivery from laboratories to patients and practitioners. Survey results show that most laboratories do not provide patients with access to lab reports, but the majority of test results are shared with ordering providers in a standard electronic format. Check out the Data Briefs for more information.

Patient Matching Report

Patient matching processes can improve patient safety and clinical care across the entire health care system as well as address continuity of care among patients who are treated by more than one provider. Lee Stevens and Kate Black (@KateOnHealthIT) talk about some findings on the current state of patient matching systems in a new blog post. The findings included in the report, conducted by Audacious Inquiry, will help to form continuing discussions within ONC and with the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees.

Nurses Summit

Please join ONC and the American Nurses Association for "At the Crossroads of Patient Care: Health IT for Nurses and Advanced Practice Nurses" on March 21, 2014 in Glen Burnie, Maryland (12 miles south of Baltimore and minutes from Baltimore-Washington International Airport). This summit is designed to help you find useful information to improve your practice using Health IT, regardless of your setting or specialty. Speakers will address quality improvement, health-care delivery reform, and payment reform for RNs and APRNs. Attendees can participate in a series of breakout sessions showcasing how Health IT enables nurses to transform health-care delivery and improve outcomes for patients within their care setting. The event is free and the American Nurses Association will provide 5 hours of Continuing Education credit for a $25 fee. Take a look at the agenda and registration, when you get a sec.