What's Happening in Health IT

In This Issue

• WEBINAR TODAY: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability Proposed Rule
• Webinar: Discovery Infrastructure for Clinical Health IT Apps Cooperative Agreement
• Webinar: Updating the Model Privacy Notice
• ONC and the Federal Health Architecture Hosting a Healthcare Provider Directory Workshop
• Proving Interoperability Across the Country
• CMS Publishes 2016 CMS Quality Reporting Document Architecture Implementation Guide Appendix
• Federal Advisory Committee Schedule Mar. 21 – Mar. 25

WEBINAR TODAY: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability Proposed Rule

The “ONC Health IT Certification Program: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability” proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on March 2, 2016. ONC is conducting webinars on the proposed rule today (March 22) and April 21.  Please register for today’s webinar.

The comment period for the proposed rule is open until 5 p.m. on May 2, 2016. Comments can be submitted on the Federal Register website. To assist in commenting on the proposed rule, ONC provides a Microsoft Word Version of the proposed rule and a Public Comment Template. These documents are available on HealthIT.gov.

In addition to the webinars today and on April 21, ONC is joining CMS to provide a brief overview of the proposed rule on March 24. Register for this webinar.

Webinar: Discovery Infrastructure for Clinical Health IT Apps Cooperative Agreement

ONC will host an informational webinar about Funding Opportunity NAP-AX-16-003 Discovery Infrastructure for Clinical Health IT Apps Cooperative Agreement on Friday, March 25 from 2-3pm ET.

At this session, we will:

• Discuss the background, purpose, scope, terms and conditions and other provisions in the funding opportunity
• Explain the eligibility and application requirements
• Describe the application review process
• Provide an opportunity for interested parties to ask questions

Please contact ONC TechLab for more information.

Webinar: Updating the Model Privacy Notice

ONC is updating the Model Privacy Notice (MPN) - a voluntary, openly available resource designed to help developers provide transparent notice of their information practices to consumers in an understandable way. We’re hosting a webinar with our colleagues in the HHS Office for Civil Rights and the Federal Trade Commission to discuss this project and opportunity to comment and answer your questions.

Date: March 30, 2016 | Time: 3-4pm (ET), 12-1pm (PT)

Please visit ONCInnovation to join the webinar. Click the phone icon for audio information. Read theHealth IT Buzz Blog for more information on how to submit comments by April 15.

ONC and the Federal Health Architecture Hosting a Healthcare Provider Directory Workshop

ONC and the Federal Health Architecture are hosting The Provider Directory Workshop on April 5 and 6 to take a deep dive into provider directory standards and solutions. The goal of the Workshop is to help health IT developers and others working on provider directory standards exchange ideas and potential solutions that can further the flow of health information. We expect the Workshop will facilitate a productive dialogue that will encourage attendees to take action to help address directory related challenges.

The Workshop will focus on interoperability, data quality, existing and evolving standards, and other technical aspects, but will consider non-technical (governance, sustainability, etc.) factors as appropriate.

Dates: April 5, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm & April 6, 8:30 am - 3:00 pm | Location: The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA. For more information, please contact us at Daniel Chaput or visit the registration page.

Proving Interoperability Across the Country

Are you an interoperability enthusiast? Well… luckily for you, the ONC Interoperability Proving Ground (IPG) is taking off! To date 223 interoperability projects have been shared in the IPG. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to share and showcase your interoperability work nationwide and connect with peers tackling similar challenges as you are.  If you’re running an interoperability project, please take a moment to add your project to the IPG. 

CMS Publishes 2016 CMS Quality Reporting Document Architecture Implementation Guide Appendix

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the 2016 CMS Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) Implementation Guide (IG) for Eligible Professional Programs (EP) and Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) Appendix (Version 1.0, February 26, 2016). This is the Appendix to the 2016 CMS QRDA IG that was published on July 8, 2015.

The 2016 CMS QRDA IG provides implementation guidance for the 2016 reporting period for submitting QRDA Category I (QRDA-I) and/or QRDA Category III (QRDA-III) files to the CMS Eligible Professional (EP) and Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) programs.

Please refer to the change log within each schematron file for CMS program specific changes. 

You can find the 2016 CMS QRDA IG Appendix and Schematrons on the CMS eCQM Library and the eCQI Resource Center.

CMS will notify stakeholders when test tools are available for the latest versions of the schematrons and when test files can be accepted by CMS systems for the 2016 reporting period.

Federal Advisory Committee Schedule Mar. 21 – Mar. 25

Tuesday, March 22
10:30 am to 12:00 pm. Joint: API Task Force Meets. Learn more:
http://ow.ly/ZMiyY

Wednesday, March 23
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. The Joint: Interoperability Experience Task Force Meets. Learn more:
http://ow.ly/ZMiQW

*All times are in Eastern Time unless otherwise noted