On Monday, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released an 80-page final version of its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan for 2011 through 2015, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 9/12).
The agency issued the final plan after receiving about 240 public comments on the draft plan that it released in March.
Details on Public Comments
In a post on its "Health IT Buzz" blog, ONC noted that the majority of public comments centered on four key themes, which are the:
- Approach toward health IT outreach for health care providers and consumers;
- Privacy of health information exchange networks;
- Timing of Stage 2 of the meaningful use program; and
- Usability of electronic health records.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus program, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
Details on Final Plan
In response to some of the issues raised in the public comments, the final version of ONC's strategic plan calls for:
- Establishing an HHS Inter-Division Task Force to develop an updated approach to certain health IT privacy and security issues;
- Supporting efforts to refine EHR usability testing and use protocols;
- Helping vendors develop EHR products that improve data portability; and
- Scaling up consumer outreach and education campaigns to raise awareness of health IT issues (Sullivan, Government Health IT, 9/12).