What's Happening in Health IT

In This Issue

We hope you are enjoying your summer! Here are a few opportunities that may be of interest. First, and this is for all you health IT policy and standards aficionados,applications are now being accepted for the Health IT Policy and Health IT Standards committees. Learn more and apply: http://onc-faca.altaruminstitute.net/apply

Register Now for ONC’s Consumer Health IT Summit

Registration is now open for ONC’s 5th Annual Consumer Health IT Summit. This popular event is free and sells out each year. Attendance is available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Don’t miss your opportunity to join us in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, October 1, 2015. The Summit will feature inspiring consumer speakers like Steven Keating who will share his personal story on how he helped diagnose his own brain cancer and collaborated with his care team using health IT. We will also have powerful keynote speakers including White House Chief Data Scientist, DJ Patil; President of the National Partnership for Women and Families, Debra Ness; Health and Human Services Chief Technology Officer, Susannah Fox, and moderated discussion with industry leaders and consumers on a host of consumer engagement topic areas.

MU Products Used for Attestation

We have updated the meaningful use EHR vendor dataset for the month of June 2015. Please take a moment to review the data, which lists the health care providers who have attested to meaningful use under the CMS Medicare EHR Incentive Program. The data indicate the EHR product and vendor that they reported when attesting.

Webinar: Consumers Use eHealth Tools for Preventive Care

Our friends at the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion want you to join a discussion about how eHealth tools can increase the use of recommended clinical preventive services. Join the first of a two-part webinar series September 10 at 2:00 p.m. (EDT) and learn about patient use of eTools that support preventive care. Consumer-facing eHealth tools, like myhealthfinder, hold promise for increasing informed decision-making about wellness and recommended clinical preventive services (for example, screening tests and vaccinations). Health professionals can leverage these tools to reach consumers in new ways through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), content syndication, and the interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs). Sign up for the free webinarnow!

Clinical Transformation in the Beacon Communities

A new evaluation of the Beacon Communities’ approach to using health IT to enable clinical transformation has been published by NORC at the University of Chicago. As part of its independent evaluation of the Beacon Community Program, NORC documented “the Communities’ application of health IT and performance measurement infrastructure to achieve clinical transformation.” Read the new report!

Certification Bodies Re-authorized

ONC has re-authorized three certification bodies for the Health IT Certification Program. The entities below are qualified and authorized by the National Coordinator to continue to perform certification activities for health IT.

ONC accepts new applications for ONC-ACB status at any time. If your organization meets the requirements as described in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45 Part 170, sections 170.525, 170.530, and 170.535, and is interested in becoming an ONC-ACB, you may request an application for authorization by contacting ONC atONC-ACB@hhs.gov. You may access the requirements for ONC-ACB status or read more about the ONC-ACB authorization process under the “Certification” tab.

Clinical Quality Framework Pilot Showcase

Join the free Clinical Quality Framework (CQF) Initiative Pilot Showcase to see the first piloted applications of harmonized clinical quality standards in development. This special meeting – August 27 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT) -- will:

Provide a status on the electronic clinical quality measurement (eCQM) and clinical decision support (CDS) standards being developed in the quality domain.
Give an overview of all of the CQF pilot site activities;
Allow for a "deep dive" into three of the projects who have implemented software based upon the CQF initiative.

We invite all to join us in a recap of the hard work undertaken by the CQF community. Register here.

FCC to Hold Broadband Health Events in Florida

The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect2Health Task Force will travel to Miami and Jacksonville, Florida, on September 30 and October 1, to highlight how broadband-enabled health technologies can transform health and care for seniors and people with disabilities. As our population ages and more Americans assume caregiving tasks for family members, broadband health technologies hold great promise to help address access to care issues, facilitate the next generation of caregiving and provide new self-management tools. The FCC will partner with the Mayo Clinic and AARP for these events. Visit https://www.fcc.gov/health for more information and to register.

Federal Advisory Committee Schedule Week of August 24 (all times EDT)

Monday

2:00 p.m.: The Interoperability Standards Advisory Task for meets. Learn more:http://bit.ly/1J7CffC

Tuesday

10:00 a.m.: The new task force on barriers to interoperability meets. Follow along here: http://bit.ly/1Lnh2lv

Wednesday

10:00 a.m.: The Health IT Standards Committee convenes a virtual meeting. Dial in and agenda will be posted here: http://bit.ly/1J7CG9L

Thursday

11:00 a.m.: The task force on barriers to interoperability meets. Web conference information is here: http://bit.ly/1WHz05N

Note: This schedule is subject to change. Follow @ONC_HealthIT for the latest cancellations and updates.