Halamka's Report on the Joint HIT Standards and Policy Committee Meeting

 

John D. HalamkaAll the members of the ONC Federal Advisory Committees met in Washington to review delivery system reform and the Interoperability Roadmap. We began the meeting with a thank you to Jodi Daniel, who will be leaving ONC after 10 years of service.

Elizabeth Holland presented a data update on the Meaningful Use program. She noted that 2015 attestation will open Jan 4, 2016-Feb 29, 2016.  The Meaningful Use Stage 2 final rule has not yet been released (but rumor suggests it may be released later today).

Next, Karen DeSalvo presented a Delivery System Reform Update setting the context for the kinds of interoperability needed in the future as fee for service is replaced by population-based payment.

Kate Goodrich presented the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) request for information which was mandated by the sustainable growth rate fix.

The afternoon was filled with a review of the Interoperability Roadmap by Erica Galvez and Steve Posnack. The roadmap is divided into three themes - drivers, policy & technical components, and outcomes.

A very good discussion and our last in person meeting for 2015.

Not only ONC is working on these issues, but also the private sector is stepping up its efforts. Last week the CEOs of every major EHR company in the country met in Salt Lake City, convened by KLAS to have a two day discussion with leading provider organizations and informatics experts. The end result - a consensus on the objective measures we can use to quantify interoperability.  

 

The message to Congress and to all stakeholders outside of government is that an independent entity will be publishing transparent quantified measures of health information exchange that can serve as the basis for understanding our current position and trajectory. We’ll understand gaps, barriers, and next steps. Every vendor CEO agreed that interoperability is a public good  that should be embraced by all. You’ll hear more about this meeting soon.