Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)

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Hospital CIOs: ONC Leadership Exodus Raises Questions About Federal HIT Priorities

Dan Bowman | Fierce Health IT | October 24, 2014

Hospital CIOs expressed concern that the sudden announced departures of National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo and Deputy National Coordinator Jacob Reider potentially leave federal health IT efforts in limbo...

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Humetrix Presents Disruptive Personal Health App Solutions Before US Congress

As a former practicing physician, data scientist and public health officer, I became a healthcare IT entrepreneur focusing on mobile technology because I believed that the best way to treat patients, improve health outcomes, and reduce waste is to put patients’ critical health information into their own hands, so they can share that information with their physicians when needed. With 68 percent of Americans using a smart phone daily1, and new HIPAA rules giving each of us a legal right to electronically access our health records, consumer facing mobile health applications can be a cure to the information blocking which is still plaguing our health care system. In a healthcare environment in which one-third of expenditures are wasted3 on redundant care, and medical errors representing the third leading cause of death in the U.S. today4, having immediate access to a patient’s health history can literally save lives and also significantly reduce healthcare costs.

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Interoperability: Can It Really Happen In 10 Years?

Mike Miliard | Government Health IT | December 16, 2014

With electronic health records now in place among hospitals and medical practices, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT embraced its new mandate in 2014: getting them to talk to each other...

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JASON Task Force Says Stage 3 Must Be Less Stringent

Mike Miliard | Government Health IT | October 6, 2014

Meaningful use stages 1 and 2 have failed to foster interoperability "in any practical sense."  That's the contention of Micky Tripathi, CEO of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, and David McCallie, senior vice president of medical informatics at Cerner, co-chairs of ONC's joint HIT Policy and Standards Committee JASON task force...

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JASON Task Force To ONC: Consider Delaying MU Stage 3 Incentives

Marla Durben Hirsch | Fierce EMR | October 14, 2014

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT should narrow Meaningful Use Stage 3 to focus on interoperability and "assertively monitor" the transition to public APIs but implement only "non-regulatory steps" to catalyze the transition, according to ONC's JASON task force...

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Lack Of Funding, Clout Didn't Deter Kolodner From Tackling ONC's Top Spot

Joseph Conn | Modern Healthcare | April 10, 2014

Dr. Robert Kolodner had his eyes wide open when he took the top spot at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS.  He knew that his predecessor, Dr. David Brailer, had asked in vain for billions of dollars to help subsidize the cost of EHRS to hospitals and physicians, federal money he thought ONC needed.

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Leidos Team Touts Interoperability In Military EHR Bid

Adam Mazmanian | FCW | October 3, 2014

Time is running out for vendors to submit bids on the planned $11 billion, 10-year contract to deliver an electronic health records system to the Defense Department. The DOD Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM -- pronounced "dim sum") is an ambitious plan to transform the delivery of care to the 9.6 million active-duty service members, their dependents, retirees and others...

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Looking Back At A 2014: Thermidor For Health Care Reform?

Andy Oram | EMR & EHR | December 29, 2014

As money drains out of health care reform, there are indications that the impetus for change is receding as well...

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Making Patients The 'Hub' Of Their Own Healthcare

Erin McCann | Government Health IT | September 16, 2014

National Health IT Week is officially underway in Washington, DC, and it's only fitting that interoperability and patient engagement are the primary themes being discussed...

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Meet ONC's New Patient Engagement Lead

Mike Miliard | Government Health IT | September 15, 2014

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has a new head for its Consumer eHealth division: Lana Moriarty.  She succeeds Lygeia Ricciardi, who pioneered the position in 2012. Ricciardi stepped down earlier this summer; Moriarty, who was appointed Sept. 11, will serve as acting director for consumer e-health, working within ONC's Office of Programs & Engagement...

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Montana Workers Get PHRs In ONC Pilot; Florida Medicaid Records Go Online

Anthony Brino | Government Health IT | October 4, 2012

City employees in Billings, Montana are now able to access their personal health records online as part of pilot project stemming from the Office of the National Coordinator's Consumer Innovation Challenge. Read More »

Moving Past the EHR Interoperability Blame Game

Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD | NEJM Catalyst | February 22, 2017

As a researcher who studies electronic health records (EHRs), I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been asked “Why can’t the systems talk to each other?” or, in more technical terms, “Why don’t we have interoperability?” The substantial increase in electronic health record adoption across the nation has not led to health data that can easily follow a patient across care settings. Still today, essential pieces of information are often missing or cumbersome to access. Patients are frustrated, and clinicians can’t make informed decisions...

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National Association for Trusted Exchange to administer Blue Button Plus Trust Bundles, initiating a second phase of NATE PHR Pilot

Press Release | National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE), Humetrix | June 24, 2014

The National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE) is pleased to begin supporting the Blue Button Plus Initiative to help patients and providers securely exchange electronic health information...NATE will administer the Consumer Trust Bundles, which are a way for participating patients and providers to indicate their involvement in the Blue Button Initiative.

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New Goals In National HIT Roadmap

Mike Miliard | Government Health IT | December 8, 2014

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has outlined its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, 2015-2020, updating the goals of an initiative most recently released in 2011...

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New Patient-Focused Commitments to Advance the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative

Press Release | The White House | July 8, 2015

Today, marking six months of progress to advance [Precision Medicine Initiative] PMI, the White House is hosting a Champions of Change event honoring extraordinary individuals from across the country who are making a difference in the lives of patients and driving precision medicine forward. In addition to celebrating these Champions, Federal agencies and private-sector groups are stepping up to the President’s call to action to advance the PMI by making important commitments to... Read More »