The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is asking the healthcare community to weigh in on the progress it's making toward "a future where health information is flowing between providers and patients."
Seth Pazinski, director of ONC's Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Analysis, and Talisha Searcy, director of research and evaluation at OPEA, pointed out that the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, or MACRA, doesn't just prioritize nationwide health data exchange: It also requires HHS to establish metrics – in consultation with healthcare industry stakeholders – to track the progress of that objective.
As such, ONC is calling for the public to offer thoughts about how to measure interoperability, and ensure the agency is keeping pace with objectives laid out in its Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap and the Federal Health IT Strategic plan.
"Specifically," Pazinski and Searcy wrote in a blog post on the ONC website, "we are asking for input on: What populations and elements of information flow should we measure? How can we use current data sources and associated metrics to address the MACRA requirements? What other data sources and metrics should HHS consider to measure interoperability more broadly?"
The public comment period closes June 3, 2016.
Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
