New This Week on HealthIT.gov

In This Issue

July is just around the corner, so it's time to dust off the red, white, and blue bunting andcelebrate the Spirit of '76! Just a reminder that next Friday is Independence Day! Enjoy and read on to see how we are working with our federal partners to help safeguard sensitive health data.

Behavioral Health Data Exchange

ONC, working with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and several states, released a report today addressing the challenges providers face when they exchange behavioral health data electronically. One of the issues discussed in the report includes the complex — and important — federal and state laws that provide essential privacy and security protections to patients. Pilot projects are also underway to demonstrate that the secure exchange of behavioral health data using directed exchange is possible. Read more about behavioral health exchange in our latest Buzz blog post.

Federal Advisory Committee Schedule Week of June 30

Tuesday
The Health IT Policy Committee's (HITPC) Meaningful Use Workgroup convenes at 10am (all times Eastern).

At 12:30pm the HITPC's Quality Measures Workgroup meets, followed at 3:30pm by theJASON Task Force on safety and health IT.

Follow the links above to find the agendas, dial in information, and meeting materials, which should be posted by Monday at the latest.

FDASIA Webinar Slides

Missed our webinar on the draft report we issued under the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) last week? We've got you covered!Download the slides from our webinar — which drew nearly 200 attendees.

Federal Health Architecture Resources

Questions about the Federal Health Architecture (FHA)? Check out the new and improved FHA Overview Datasheet and sign up for the newsletter!

Blogging, Blogging, Blogging!

We recently announced the launch of the new Blue Button Consumer Campaign. Beginning this fall, the push will be on to raise awareness among consumers and patients about the value of online access to health information. An example might be viewing a recent lab test or X-ray. The new campaign is supported by our federal partners at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Defense, and the Veterans Administration, along with several private-sector companies. Read the blog post to learn more about how these organizations have committed to helping patients view, download, and transmit their own data.

We also blogged about the results from an ONC-funded pilot project at Geisinger Health System, recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The pilot project shows that patients can be effectively engaged to improve the quality of the information in their medical record — helping to spot errors such as outdated information and omissions such as medications prescribed by another provider. The findings support our efforts and those of many of our partners to enable sharing of health information with patients.