To that end, we offer a variety of resources and channels to address industry questions. These include ongoing public meetings, meetings with stakeholders, and online materials – including videos, fact sheets, and FAQs. However, to adjust to the growing need for information, and to respond to feedback that we could be more forthcoming and clearer in our responses to questions, we are launching a number of additional channels for education and communication:
- More frequent and more pointed FAQs to address practical considerations related to implementing the rule;
- Focused posting of Myths vs Facts on social media to dispel inaccurate information and direct stakeholders to authoritative resources in a timely manner;
- Plainer language blogs on key subjects that reflect and amplify the content of our FAQs but in more descriptive, narrative style for non-legal, non-technical audiences;
- Regular leadership blogs from me as well as other senior ONC leaders on progress of the regulation’s implementation, opportunities unlocked by Cures Act policies and API platform technologies and business models, and synergies with other Federal and industry initiatives; and
- Active outreach for participation in public events and stakeholder meetings by ONC leadership and our crack policy, clinical, and technical teams to directly engage with market questions and concerns
The U.S. is a large, heterogeneous, dynamic, and complex country. No law or regulation can address or anticipate every local consideration that might arise during implementation. This ongoing discussion we are having with industry to provide clarity and refinement where necessary – smoothing out the small “p’s” of policy – is a feature, not a bug, of the process. Ongoing engagement with the public helps assure that the government addresses private sector concerns while staying true to the public interest. We thus welcome your questions, comments, and feedback! Stay tuned for more!
This post was published in HealthITBuzz, the blog of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). It is reprinted by Open Health News under public domain. The original post can be found here.
