Members of the Premier alliance commend Dr. Karen DeSalvo and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for their work in developing a comprehensive plan to improve the national health IT (HIT) infrastructure.
In particular, Premier strongly supports consumer access to health data in private, secure and meaningful ways through the use of apps and other tools that better enable achievement of health and wellness goals. Ultimately, we share the future vision of the ONC to enable applications to securely integrate and exchange information, including data in electronic health records, as well as health apps that consumers may use to access and share health data with providers.
Second, we are encouraged by the ONC’s desire to improve the workflow and automation of quality measures collection and processes as part of a comprehensive strategy to support population health. More automated measures collection and analytics capabilities, as envisioned in the plan, will go far to improve overall efficiencies and free providers up to spend more time doctoring to patients, and less time doctoring to administrative measures collection.
Last, we believe it is critical that the ONC fast track work to finalize interoperability standards necessary for capturing and exchanging information across IT platforms. In many respects, these standards are the essential foundation for every strategic goal outlined in the plan. Premier looks forward to ONC’s forthcoming release of its roadmap to address the technical standards, certification requirements, privacy/security standards and other initiatives that will enable true HIT interoperability.
– Blair Childs, Premier Senior Vice President of Public Affairs
