ONC Releases Ambitious Health IT Strategic Plan
The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) released its Federal Health Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan this September, detailing its goals and strategies for transforming health care through health IT over the next five years. An “ambitious” and “living document”, the plan envisions a health care system that captures and uses information to empower individuals and improve health across the nation through health information and IT.
The plan sets forth five key goals for the federal health IT agenda towards better technology, better information and the transformation of health care across the nation:
- Adoption and Information Exchange through Meaningful Use of Health IT
- Improve Care, Improve Population Health, and Reduce Health Care Costs through Use of Health IT
- Inspire Confidence and Trust in Health IT
- Empower Individuals with Health IT to Improve their Health and the Health Care System
- Achieve Rapid Learning and Technological Advancement
The plan highlights current and future strategies and objectives undertaken by ONC and HHS to broaden privacy and security policies, achieve widespread transparency in how patient information is used and disclosed, increase patient access to information and education, and establish additional standards to support more advanced use of health IT. In addition, it focuses on the key role of meaningful use of health IT through the Medicare/Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
It also sets forth key policy areas to be addressed by HHS, including but not limited to: individual choice to participate in health information exchange, access limitations and transparency for electronic health information exchange, and secondary uses of health information for quality improvement, public health and research purposes. In addition, the plan highlights the need to improve technological solutions to allow for granularity of patient consent and data segmentation and current ONC efforts through its SHARP program to develop innovative means for doing so.
Overall, the ONC’s strategic plan is aggressive but by no means the end to planning. As progress continues to be made, ONC will openly revisit, assess and update the plan as needed in coordination with federal, state and private and public stakeholders. To read the full plan, visit ONC’s website.
