Recently, I received word from one of the several HIMSS emails I receive that the ONC is going to be asking for public comment on its RFI for “Governance of the Nationwide Health Information Network”. This up on public display from May 11th by the Office of the Federal Register’s Public Inspection.
The information I received about the components of the proposed governance approach are below and include:
1) Focus on entities that facilitate electronic health information exchange 2) A set of conditions for trusted exchange (CTEs) in three areas: safeguards, interoperability, and business practices. 3) A voluntary validation process for entities to demonstrate conformance to the CTEs and to increase provider confidence that the exchange entities meet these requirements 4) A processes to regularly update and improve CTEs 5) A process to classify the readiness of technical standards and implementation specifications to support interoperability CTEs; and 6) Approaches for monitoring and transparent oversight
In order to receive the best input from all stakeholders on governance issues that HHS is considering, the RFI includes many questions about these proposals. The public comment period closes 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. The expectation is for publication in the Federal Register to happen May 15th, 2012. Stakeholders, including consumers and patients are requested to provide feedback on these proposals. Please keep yourself informed and educated about this.
Healthcare Interoperability 