Federal Advisory Committees
Latest Blog Posts
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Joint Hearing to Conceptualize Clinical Quality for Meaningful Use Stage 3
Recognizing the importance of evolving quality concepts within the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, two ONC federal advisory committee workgroups jointly held a full day hearing on June 7, 2012 to identify ways in which Meaningful Use Stage 3 may advance the consistent delivery of high quality care in diverse care settings. Experts from health care delivery organizations, quality improvement organizations, industry, and academia shared insights regarding how clinical decision support, quality measurement, and the use of clinical data can improve care. Participants encouraged an increased focus on the dynamic ability to ask questions and get answers about patient populations, the use of clinical decision support as an “in-the-moment quality improvement” mechanism, and a transition from retrospective reporting to prospective identification of care improvement opportunities.
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Federal Advisory Committees Seeking Input on Incorporation of Patient-Generated Data for Stage 3 Meaningful Use
ONC’s federal advisory committees (FACAs) held a full-day hearing on June 8 (written testimony can be found here) to explore how patient-generated health data (PGHD) might be incorporated into Meaningful Use (MU) of EHRs for Stage 3 of the EHR Incentive Programs. Some examples of PGHD are data from a patient’s personal health record, data from a blood glucose monitor, or information about a patient’s functional status. Three FACA workgroups hosted the hearing: The Health IT Policy Committee’s MU and Quality Measurement Workgroups, and the Health IT Standards Committee’s Consumer Engagement Power Team.
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Kudos to Our Federal Advisory Committees
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is very proud of the two federal advisory committees that we support: The Health IT Policy and the Health IT Standards Committees. Created by the HITECH Act to provide input on the policies and technologies needed to improve health and care, the Committees, as noted in a recent blog post by David Kibbe and Brian Klepper , are an invaluable resource. Through their open meetings and hearings, they promote transparency in ONC policy development and build support and ownership among key private-sector stakeholders in ONC policies and programs. They are a direct channel for private and public sector health IT leaders and the public to offer input into U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) processes for developing policies and regulations.