The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is seeking information on the 21st Century Cures Act's Electronic Health Record (EHR) Reporting Program in an effort to fully implement the statute.
The agency has filed a request for information (RFI) on the EHR Reporting Program, which was established under the 21st Century Cures Act. The request was published on Friday, Aug. 24.
The act requires HHS to ensure health IT developers submit required information in order to obtain and maintain certification. The department is also required to lead a public process to establish the reporting criteria for the program.
According to the document, the request is a “first step toward implementing the statute. Its responses will be used to inform subsequent discussions among stakeholders and future work toward the development of reporting criteria under the EHR Reporting Program.”
“The Cures Act requires the EHR Reporting Program’s reporting criteria to address the following five categories: security; interoperability; usability and user-centered design; conformance to certification testing; and other categories, as appropriate to measure the performance of certified EHR technology,” the document states.
“The Cures Act also suggests several other categories for consideration, including, but not limited to: enabling users to order and view results of laboratory tests, imaging tests, and other diagnostic tests; exchanging data with clinical registries; accessing and exchanging data from medical devices, health information exchanges, and other health care providers; accessing and exchanging data held by federal, state and local agencies.”
A response to the request is due by Oct. 17.
Danielle covers Clinical Innovation & Technology as a senior news writer for TriMed Media. Previously, she worked as a news reporter in northeast Missouri and earned a journalism degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She's also a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs, Bears and Bulls.