ONC – HLN Consulting, LLC

ONC Releases Pediatric Health IT Developer Informational Resources

by Noam Arzton June 30, 2020

In June 2020 the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a Pediatric Health Information Technology: Developer Informational Resource. The primary purpose of the guide is to assist electronic health record (EHR) software developers in improving their products to better support pediatric health requirements. The origin of this initiative is the 21st Century Cures Act which is Section 4001 calls on ONC to, “make recommendations for the voluntary certification of health information technology for use by pediatric health providers to support the health care of children.”

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ONC Releases Final Rule on Interoperability: How Might it Affect Public Health? [Revised]

by Noam Arzton April 22, 2020

On March 9, 2020 the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released its final rule on the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program. Referred to by some people as the “Information Blocking Rule,” since this is the primary topic, the document actually covers a host of other issues related to interoperability driven primarily by requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act. In addition to the final rule itself you can read the ONC press release, a comparison between the proposed and final rules, and lots of other resources. The final rule was officially be published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2020.

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ONC Releases Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs

by Noam Arzton March 27, 2020

In February 2020 the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released its final report on the Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs as mandated by the 21st Century Cures Act.

The report is divided into the same four major sections as the version released for comment back in 2018 (see our previous blog), each covering a different area: clinical documentation; health IT usability and the user experience; EHR reporting; and public health reporting. For each section, the report briefly lays out the issues and challenges and provides some key strategies and recommendations.

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HLN Attends ONC 2020 Annual Meeting

by Noam Arzton February 4, 2020

HLN’s Noam Arzt and Michael Suralik attended the tenth ONC Annual Meeting held on January 27-28 in Washington, DC. More than 1,200 individuals attended in person supplemented by remote attendees for the plenary sessions. Throughout the two-day event, ONC provided interesting speakers, engaging panels on a variety of topics, and ample time to network with colleagues and friends.

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ONC 2020-2025 Strategic Plan: Not Much for Public Health

by Noam Arzton January 27, 2020

In December 2019 the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a draft 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan and invited public comment. The plan is intended not only to provide a roadmap to Federal agencies but also to “…provide signals to the private sector on the direction of the federal government, which may guide coordination and investment decisions” and serve as a “catalyst for activities” (p. 21)