The Health IT Policy Committee's strategy and innovation work group, on Thursday, outlined draft recommendations for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's updated Federal Health IT Strategic Plan.
The workgroup's changes and suggestions for the plan include clarification of language to, among other things:
- Emphasize a focus on improving health and well-being
- Explain how a health-oriented infrastructure would function
- Reflect a greater focus on health equity
Workgroup members also said predictive analytics should be included in the plan, and that ONC should articulate a vision for collection, ownership, protection and uses of personal health information.
These recommendations come on the heels of comments made by the Health IT Policy Committee's Consumer Work Group (CWG), which said the strategic plan does not go far enough when it comes to consumers.
The CWG said that while the plan "reflects a multi-faceted approach to expanding adoption of health IT," it voiced concern about how well consumers will relate to the framework and pointed out some missing core principles.
The strategy and innovation work group also said that the plan should stress that infrastructure and policies need to support a variety of technology devices and platforms, adding that "health IT should facilitate individuals, communities, and providers to make informed and healthy decisions."
What's more, it pointed out some challenges it believes ONC will face when it comes to interoperability, including technology pricing, time, migration from legacy systems and role of government.
The American Academy of Family Physicians also recently made comments on the plan, urging ONC to ease the burden on physicians trying to comply with federal health IT goals.
The plan is open for public comment through Feb. 6.
To learn more:
- download the recommendations (slideshow)