ONC Releases 5-Year HIT Strategic Plan
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Transforming healthcare delivery and community health is among new goals for HIT.
The ONC has released the final version of its Health IT Strategic Plan for 2015 to 2020. The four main goals cited in the 50-page document include transforming healthcare delivery and community health; enhancing health IT infrastructure; fostering research, scientific knowledge and innovation; and advancing person-centered health and self-management.
“Health IT only achieves its full potential when it seamlessly supports individuals as they strive to take control of their own health,” said National Coordinator for Health IT Karen B. DeSalvo. “Implementing the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan over the next five years drives toward a public-private partnership to achieve interoperability and will help the nation achieve important health outcomes, while remaining flexible to the evolving nature of health care and technology.”
The plan also outlines how the federal government will support the effective use of information and technology to achieve these goals while underscoring the fact IT is merely a tool, not an end goal, of the document. The final Plan reflects the input from more than 400 public comments, collaboration between federal contributors, and recommendations from the Health IT Policy Committee.
The plan also requires collaboration from private stakeholders, state and local governments, and all healthcare industry stakeholders as necessary components for advancing the ONC mission. It originated from ONC’s Federal Health IT Advisory Council, which gathered information from 35 entities and departments in the council as well as public comment from about 400 people and organizations.
The document represents an “action plan for federal partners, as they work to expedite high-quality, accurate, secure, and relevant electronic health information for stakeholders across the nation,” wrote DeSalvo in a blog post on the ONC website.
According to Becker’s Hospital Review, industry leaders support the plan. “The incorporation of person-centered health as a core goal of the final Federal Health IT Strategic Plan is a significant and positive step toward the kind of patient- and family-centered healthcare system this country needs,” said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, in a statement. We commend ONC for recognizing that patients, families and caregivers must be able to access, understand, use and share health information in order to achieve a healthcare system that delivers better care, better health and better value.
“By laying out the vision, goals and collective efforts that federal agencies will pursue over the next five years in concert with public and private organizations, the Strategic Plan will help sustain momentum in advancing patient access to tools that can help them understand and manage there are, communicate effectively with providers and participate in efforts to enhance coordination of care across settings and providers.”