The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) – released its draft 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan for public comment.
The public comment period for the draft plan – which guides the Federal government’s use of electronic health information (EHI) – is open until May 28.
“As part of our statutory duty to align and coordinate health IT efforts with our federal partners, ONC collaborated on the draft Plan with more than 25 Federal agencies. These agencies regulate, purchase, develop, and use health IT to deliver care and improve health outcomes, and they increasingly rely on the access, exchange, and use of EHI to effectively execute their missions,” national coordinator for health IT Micky Tripathi said in a March 27 statement. “We look forward to public comments to help inform the Federal government’s health IT strategy for the coming years.”
ONC’s draft plan has four main goals: 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 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan – developed in collaboration with more than 25 Federal organizations – builds on progress made in the 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan.
For example, the new strategy emphasizes the policy and technology components – like artificial intelligence – necessary to support the diverse data needs of all health IT users.
The new strategy also works to advance the access, exchange, and use of EHI and deliver more transparent and equitable care for individuals.
Finally, ONC noted that the plan Aligns with the HHS Health Care Sector Cybersecurity concept paper and voluntary health care specific Cybersecurity Performance Goals to help health care organizations prioritize the implementation of high-impact cybersecurity practices.
“As the VA modernizes its electronic health record system, the draft 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan provides direction towards a seamless health care experience that helps patients and providers benefit from a connected health system,” said Meg Marshall, director of informatics regulatory affairs at the Veterans Health Administration.
“Not only that, the draft Federal Health IT Strategic Plan serves as an actionable roadmap for the federal government to align and coordinate health IT efforts in a transparent and accountable manner,” Marshall said in a statement. “We are looking for public comment about ways to improve health through health IT, so that Veterans too can benefit from the goals of a coordinated federal health IT strategy.”
