ONC issues draft Roadmap for nationwide health IT Interoperability

PARCA eNews – Jan. 30, 2015 – The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) today released its draft roadmap to interoperability.

The document, “Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap Version 1.0,” is a proposal to deliver better care and result in healthier people through the safe and secure exchange and use of electronic health information.

The draft roadmap follows months of comment and feedback from hundreds of health and health IT experts from across the nation through ONC advisory group feedback, listening sessions, and an online forum. 

The draft roadmap calls for ONC to identify the best available technical standards for core interoperability functions, and was designed in concert with the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020, based on a core set of building blocks that are needed to achieve interoperability:

1. Core technical standards and functions;
2. Certification to support adoption and optimization of health IT products and services;
3. Privacy and security protections for health information;
4. Supportive business, clinical, cultural, and regulatory environments; and
5. Rules of engagement and governance.

The draft Roadmap and Standards Advisory are available for viewing at www.healthit.gov/interoperability. The public comment period for the draft Roadmap closes April 3, 2015. The public comment period for the Standards Advisory closes May 1, 2015.