In This Issue

Where’s ONC at HIMSS16

Join ONC at a number of activities during the HIMSS16 Conference, February 29 – March 4 at the Venetian – Palazzo - Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas.

CDC Electronic Case Reporting Listening SessionSpecial Edition Session! Please join our colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS) and Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS) for a discussion on Electronic Case Reporting and public health.

Laura A. Conn, MPH, Director, Health Information Strategy Activity
Sanjeev Tandon MBBS, MD, MS, Electronic Health Records Meaningful Use Project Lead
Nedra Garrett, MS, Senior Advisor for Informatics
Maria Michaels, MBA, Public Health Advisor

Wednesday, March 2, 4-5 pm. ONC Meeting Room 4602

Federal Health Architecture Interoperability ShowcaseThis year's showcase will have demonstrations highlighting federal and state collaboration around electronic health records, enabling consumer access to their own health records, and data collection and transfer. Location: Booth 11954 | Exhibit Hall G

Federal Health Architecture Federal Health Architecture (FHA) will also be represented in the Federal Health IT SolutionsPavilion. FHA Director, Gail Kalbfleisch, will speak on how FHA provides a structured process for analyzing and presenting opportunities for federal, state, local, tribal and private health participants to engage and streamline information exchange criteria. Tuesday, March 1 from 2:30-3:00 pm and Thursday, March 3 from 10:45-11:15 am.

For more details on ONC events at HIMSS16, visit our website. Also, follow us on Twitter:@ONC_HealthIT and join the discussion using the hashtag #HIMSS16.

HHS Releases Joint US/UK Report on Adoption of EHRs

We are proud to announce a joint report with the UK which highlights findings of successful adoption and optimization of digital care records in both the US & UK, paying particular attention to the human and behavioral factors of adoption that determine ‘what good looks like’. The goals of this exciting report are as follows:

identify factors that contribute to the successful adoption of digital care record systems including workforce competencies,
generate learning which would be applicable across both countries, and;
summarize a set of approaches from both countries that support the adoption of digital care records.

Want to apply these lessons in your practice? We have compiled a list of relevant tools developed in both countries to help you do just that! While there is no “one size fits all” track for successful adoption and optimization of health IT, we hope that providers everywhere can glean a few useful tips for their practice. This report is another exciting output from a bi-lateral agreement with the UKand we look forward to continued partnership with our colleagues across the pond.

Transatlantic Health IT/eHealth Cooperation Roadmap Webinar

This session presents an opportunity for feedback and dialogue among EU and US stakeholders on the new EU-US eHealth/Health IT MoU Roadmap Work-stream 'Supporting Transatlantic eHealth/Health IT Innovation Ecosystems'. The Roadmap represents collaboration on eHealth/Health IT between the European Commission's DG CONNECT and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the auspices of the Transatlantic Economic Council, and includes support from the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of State.

The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, February 25, 2016. Registration is now available on ourwebsite.

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. / U.S. Eastern Time | 15:00 p.m. – 16:30 p.m. / CET (Brussels) Time.

Two New Posts on Health IT Buzz Blog

Today, ONC released a new blog post: Our Next Chapter for Standards and Technology: Introducing the ONC Tech Lab. The ONC Tech Lab is the way in which we will organize and approach the type of work we do. This transition lays the operational groundwork within ONC necessary to implement the Interoperability Roadmap and ties directly to our near-term health IT strategy and, ultimately, the long-term vision included in the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan.

In addition, the 3rd blog post in ONC’s Real HIPAA blog series is now available. The post entitled The Real HIPAA: Care Coordination, Care Planning, and Case Management Examples gives additional practical examples of exchange for Treatment and exchange for Health Care Operations.

New Agreement to Help Federal Agencies Securely Exchange Health Information

Multiple federal agencies will have the ability to electronically exchange health information with private-sector, health care providers, based on a new trust anchor bundle. DirectTrust and the Federal Health Architecture (FHA) announced the new Governmental Trust Anchor Bundle, which will allow for secure electronic messaging and attachments for care coordination between clinicians in these government facilities and their counterparts in the private sector, with considerable and significant benefits expected for the care of veterans and active duty military personnel from this changeover. As part of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, this first step has not only improved healthcare for patients, caregivers, and providers but also exemplifies how federal-private partnerships can move interoperability and secure information exchange forward.

ONC Addresses Privacy and Security for Patient Centered Outcomes Research

ONC recently kicked off a multi-pronged effort to address policy and technical questions about privacy and security for patient centered outcomes research (PCOR). The “PCOR Privacy and Security Research Scenario Initiative and Legal Analysis and Ethics Framework,” will analyze research data use scenarios and legal and ethical requirements to create a framework that will guide the responsible use and protection of electronic data for PCOR. The “Patient Choice Technical Project,” will harmonize existing technical mechanisms to enable interoperable exchange of patient consent for research.

To learn more about either initiative or to participate, please visit:

PCOR Privacy and Security Research Scenario Initiative and Legal Analysis and Ethics Framework

The Patient Choice Technical Project

Federal Advisory Committee Schedule Feb. 22 – Feb. 26

Friday, February 26th 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm. The Standards: Precision Medicine Task Force holds a Meeting. Learn more:http://ow.ly/YgoIZ

*All times are in Eastern Time unless otherwise noted