Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

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HHS IDEA Lab to Host Innovation Day on May 15

Join us for HHS Innovation Day on May 15th at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C., where you’ll experience first-hand how new approaches and creative thinking can advance our work in government. You’ll hear from stellar employees at HHS who are using entrepreneurial methods like design thinking and lean startup to improve how their office or agency delivers on the HHS mission. The day will also feature a panel on deploying creative thinking to improve work in government, and innovative speakers from government and the private sector.

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HHS Launches Cash Contest for Innovative FHIR Apps

Press Release | Department of Health and Human Services | March 1, 2016

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced today a three-part strategy to spur the development of market-ready, user-friendly software applications (apps) for consumers and health care providers...The strategy includes two software app challenges with award prizes totaling $175,000 each: one focused on consumer use and one focused on provider use. Additionally, a competitive funding opportunity of up to $275,000 will support the development of an open resource to make it easier for developers to publish their apps and for providers to discover and compare them...

HHS Opens More Data To Researchers And Developers

Bernie Monegain | Government Health IT | June 3, 2013

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday announced the release of new data and new opportunities for researchers and developers. Read More »

HHS Pulls EHRMagic Certification

Marla Durben Hirsch | FierceEMR | April 26, 2013

Hospital officials were divided in their reactions to news late Thursday that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services had revoked the certification of two electronic health record systems for failure to meet the standards of the Meaningful Use incentive program. Read More »

HHS Releases Interoperability Rules

Press Release | HHS | February 11, 2019

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today proposed new rules to support seamless and secure access, exchange, and use of electronic health information. The rules, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), would increase choice and competition while fostering innovation that promotes patient access to and control over their health information. The proposed ONC rule would require that patient electronic access to this electronic health information (EHI) be made available at no cost.

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HHS Steps Back On NwHIN Governance

Joseph Conn | ModernHealthcare.com | September 7, 2012

HHS, through its Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, has decided to punt on its previous drive to regulate the proposed nationwide health information network. Read More »

HHS Stops Short Of Calling For Safety Regulation Of Digital Records

Jay Hancock | Kaiser Health News | December 21, 2012

The Obama administration Friday urged cooperation between software companies and caregivers to prevent patient harm caused by faulty electronic records. But it stopped short of calling for regulation or a federal requirement to report computer mistakes that pose a risk to patients. Read More »

HHS, VA Go Granular In Info Exchange Demo

Joseph Conn | ModernHealthcare.com | September 17, 2012

HHS and the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department have demonstrated the successful use of technology to persistently enforce federal patient consent requirements at the "granular" data element level, HHS announced. Read More »

HIE 'Rules Of Road': What's Next?

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee | GovInfoSecurity.com | September 17, 2012

Supporters of a recent decision by federal regulators to back away from issuing voluntary "rules of the road" for secure health information exchange say the move makes sense [...]. But some others argue that establishing HIE benchmarks, especially for privacy and security, is advisable now to help build public trust. Read More »

HIE, Interoperability Still Center Stage

Anthony Brino | Healthcare IT News | August 8, 2013

As Farzad Mostashari, MD, prepares to leave the ONC, his office and  the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are looking to the future and plotting long-term information exchange and interoperability policy strategies. Read More »

HIEs: Help in Disasters?

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee | Healthcare Info Security | November 2, 2012

How big of a role did health information exchanges play in providing access to records during Superstorm Sandy, and what lessons can be learned? Federal officials will address these questions, says HIE expert Lee Stevens. Read More »

HIMSS 2012 in Retrospect – From Patient Engagement to Big Data. Viva Las Vegas or Tumbling Dice?

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn | Health Populi | February 24, 2012

The record attendance at HIMSS12, in terms of both attendees (numbering some 38,000) and exhibitors, illustrated just how hot health information technology has become in the 20 years since I first began attending this meeting — when it was only a few thousand hospital computer geeks and materials managers picking up pocket protectors and calculators from vendors. Read More »

HIMSS Asks Congress For National Data-Matching For HIEs And Harmonized Privacy Regs

Julie Bird | FierceHealthIT | September 24, 2012

Mismatched data puts patient safety at risk, group warns
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HIMSS EHR Association Fires Back At GOP Senators Calling For MU reboot

Mike Milliard | Government Health IT | May 22, 2013

One month after six Republican Senators published a white paper calling for a new approach to the federal meaningful use incentive program, the HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association has drafted a point-by-point response. Read More »

HIMSS12: HIE and Enabling Interoperability

Patty Enrado | Government Health IT | March 2, 2012

The big news out of HIMSS12 in Las Vegas last week was the release of Stage 2 Meaningful Use regulations. It will take some time for stakeholders to carefully examine what they need to do going forward, including being able to do greater and more complex transactions for securely sharing patient information. Read More »