What's Happening in Health IT

In This Issue

Happy Holidays! We have a couple of big deadlines coming up, the first of which happens at the close of business TODAY. Make sure you share your thoughts about the draft Interoperability Roadmap today before the comment period closes! Second, we havethree big grant opportunities to help enhance health information exchange and the deadline to submit applications is Monday, April 6.

ONC HIMSS 2015

ONC is looking forward to attending the HIMSS conference April 13-16 in Chicago, IL. Please visit our dedicated HIMSS ONC webpage that outlines all the ways you can connect with us during the conference!

#HealthIT Tools for State Innovation Model Initiative

Working with our partners at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and its Innovation Center, we have posted a slate of online tools to help not only the 34 states, three territories and the District of Columbia that participate in the State Innovation Model initiative with the use of their health IT tools, but also all states, providers, hospitals and other care givers across the country, to achieve the goals of the program. The gist of the new state innovation model initiative is to spur innovation in the way care is delivered. "This partnership was established to foster additional innovation and sharing of resources and best practices to drive forward health IT innovation around transforming health-care delivery and overall population health," according to the new blog post authored by Kelly Cronin, ONC's director of the Office of Care Transformation, and Ahmed Haque (@aehaque), director of ONC's Office of Programs and Engagement.

#Data4Health

Meeting communities where they are is important to us, that's why Dr. Karen DeSalvo (@KBDeSalvo), the national coordinator for health IT, travelled around the country last year to meet with providers in five cities and hear how health information technology can improve care delivery and modernize the health care system. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which was integral to these efforts, issued a report about what was heard – from San Francisco to Des Moines – called Data for Health: Learning What Works. Read our blog post and check out the report!

Read and Comment on the 2015 Edition proposed rule

The 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria (2015 Edition) proposed rule serves as a key component in ONC’s commitment to establishing an interoperable nationwide health information infrastructure. The proposed rule is open for public comment from March 30 until May 29, 2015. The rule can be read at the Federal Register webpage.

ONC encourages the public to use the public comment template to submit comments on the proposed certification criteria and associated standards and implementation specifications, respond to specific questions posed in the preamble of the proposed rule, and comment on the proposed modifications to the ONC Health IT Certification Program. While use of the public comment template is entirely voluntary, commenters may find it helpful to use the document in lieu of or in addition to unstructured comments, or to use it as an addendum to narrative cover pages. Public comment should be submitted to regulations.gov.

We are also accepting public comments on the draft 2015 Edition certification test procedures until June 30, 2015.

Federal Advisory Committee Schedule Week of April 6 (all times EDT)

The FACA schedule for the upcoming week is here:
TuesdayThe Health IT Policy Committee's (HITPC) meets, beginning at 9:30am. Please check back for the agenda.
WednesdayThe Health IT Standards Committee's (#HITSC) Transport & Security Standards Workgroup meets at 3pm. The Workgroup will post its agenda closer to the meeting time, so please check back.
Thursday At 10am the #HITPC Advanced Health Models and Meaningful Use Workgroup convenes. Find the dial-in and Web conference information here.

This is followed at noon by the #HITSC Architecture, Services and APIs Workgroup. The agenda and meeting materials should be posted closer to the meeting time, so please check back.

Our greatly appreciated FACA volunteers wind up their week at 3:30pm with a meeting of the #HITSC Implementation, Certification and Testing Workgroup. Check back for the agenda and meeting materials.

2011 Edition Retired

The 2011 Edition certification criteria and related standards, terms and requirements have been removed from the Code of Federal Regulations, which means that is has been effectively "retired." The 2011 Edition Test Method (test procedures, data and tools) has been archived. As of March 1, 2015, NVLAP accrediting testing labs (ATLs) are no longer testing to the 2011 Edition requirements. The accredited certification bodies (ACBs) are working with their health IT developer clients to “retire” the 2011 Edition certifications and ending any related responsibilities, such as surveillance.

The 2011 Edition certified products will remain active on the Certified EHR Product List (CHPL) until July 1, 2015 for any users that may still need to generate a CMS EHR Certification ID.

We have more information in a new FAQ on HealthIT.gov.

Chief Nursing Officer Sought

Attention nursing informatics pros, we want you! Time is running out to apply to become ONC's Chief Nursing Officer. Check out the job posting!

Check out the new data on the HealthIT.gov Dashboard

Check out the new data and quick stats on the Health IT Dashboard. The new data visualizations report on eligible office-based provider and hospital participation in the CMS EHR Incentive Programs:

Office-based Provider Participation: