HHS Finalizes Federal Health IT Strategy to Drive Systemic Improvements in Health and Care

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (hereafter ASTP), published the final 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan – PDFin accordance with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH Act.) The Strategic Plan presents federal health information technology (health IT) goals and objectives to achieve a future state where health IT and electronic health information are used to:

• Promote health and wellness;
• Enhance the delivery and experience of care;
• Accelerate research and innovation; and
• Connect the health system with health data.

The draft Strategic Plan was published by ASTP in March 2024 following a comprehensive and collaborative effort with more than 25 federal agencies that are central to the advancement of health IT. These federal agencies regulate, purchase, develop, fund, research, and use health IT to improve patient care and health outcomes. The Strategic Plan was subsequently updated and finalized following a 60-day public comment period, which produced comments from a variety of organizations including health care systems, associations and specialty societies, electronic health record developers, patient advocates, and others.

“The release of our latest health IT strategy is a culmination of partnership across the federal government to examine the forces shaping the health care ecosystem today and to craft a set of strategies to guide how to prioritize resources, align and coordinate federal health IT initiatives and activities, signal priorities to industry, and benchmark and assess progress over time,” said Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., assistant secretary for technology policy and national coordinator for health information technology. “ASTP is grateful for the support of Secretary Becerra and Deputy Secretary Palm, and also for the input received from across and beyond the health care community that informed a Strategic Plan that leverages health IT to serve individuals, populations, and communities in the coming years.”

“The quality and safety of the analytics and recommendations provided by AI and other data-driven technologies depends on high-quality and representative data,” said Keith E. Campbell, M.D., Ph.D., Program Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Systematic Harmonization and Interoperability Enhancement for Laboratory Data (SHIELD) program. “The Plan represents an important commitment to improving both the access to and the quality of the health care data which are the foundation for developing safe and high-quality AI technologies.”

“Now more than ever, equitable and affordable broadband connectivity is increasingly critical to ensuring that all Americans can get well and stay healthy,” said Michele Ellison, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) general counsel and chair of the agency’s Connect2Health Task Force. “The latest Federal Health IT Strategic Plan recognizes how our health system can benefit from cutting-edge communications infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved areas—enabling us to better engage individuals, their caregivers, and physicians across the care continuum and drive high-quality care, while lowering cost. We salute the Plan’s focus on promoting equitable access to affordable broadband and mobile phone service, so that all people have access to their electronic health information and can benefit from advancements in digital health technologies. The transformative power of broadband in health is simply inescapable, which is why FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has made bringing affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to 100 percent of the country a key agency priority.”

Visit HealthIT.gov to learn more about ASTP and read the final 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan – PDF.