The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is getting ready to kick off a formal process to create governance rules for the Nationwide Health Information Network, Government Health IT reports.
The health IT provisions of the 2009 federal economic stimulus package called for the creation of a system of governance for NHIN.
Until the governance system is enacted, organizations and firms that do not have an existing grant or contract with the federal government cannot participate in the NHIN Exchange. The NHIN Exchange is a group of federal health care agencies and their contractors that exchange health information through NHIN.
Mary Jo Deering -- a senior policy adviser in ONC's Office of Policy and Planning -- said ONC intends to use the rulemaking process to create a set of governing policies that will increase membership in the NHIN Exchange and protect organizations that participate in the health data network.
She added that current NHIN Exchange participants also are pushing for an expansion of the network.
Timeline
Deering said ONC plans to release a proposed rule on NHIN governance by early 2011 and finalize the regulations by next summer (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 8/10).