[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":2712,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"The nation needs a more robust and modern way of testing healthcare information technology standards, as well as an update to plans for the interoperability \u201croadmap\u201d it\u2019s following to improve the exchange of medical information.

Those suggestions are among several offered by the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) in a comment letter sent this week to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

AMIA, in responding to a request for comments on ONC\u2019s Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA), went beyond merely discussing provisions of the advisory to add the organization\u2019s thoughts on the direction of interoperability within the healthcare industry.

\u201cWhile recent enhancements to the content and presentation of the ISA have improved the capacity for stakeholder debate, there remains a need for unbiased, strategic leadership on the current status and future direction of health IT standards,\u201d said AMIA\u2019s letter to Don Rucker, MD, national coordinator for health information technology. \u201cWe believe this leadership is best derived from private sector experience, with public investment and convening.\u201d

AMIA is asking ONC to establish a dedicated roadmap for standards, including development of a framework for how multiple standards should fit together to support interoperability, both for national use cases and the broader health IT ecosystem, which it considers to include research and consumer products.

Also See:<\/b> ONC to tackle barriers to EHR usability and interoperability<\/a>

The organization said the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap could be a starting point to enhance the national health IT strategy. It calls for ONC to adopt three recommendations to achieve the full potential of interoperability:

* Updating and enhancing the interoperability roadmap, including \u201ca detailed gap analysis of current and potential standards to address priority national use cases.\u201d

* Enhancing testing and improving test tools to ensure standards actually enable progress. \u201cVery few standards undergo rigorous testing at the development level or implementation level,\u201d AMIA\u2019s letter states. \u201cBoth are critical if interoperability is to occur.\u201d

*Investing and aligning funding toward the goal of improved standards. \u201cAs the national dialogue continues in the direction of information models and the use of ever-more nuanced vocabularies for various use cases, we recommend that ONC coordinate investment in terminologies and reference standards that might be used in combination,\u201d the organization suggests. \u201cAMIA recommends adequate funding for the development, management, testing and maintenance of HIT standards, as well as the standards developing organizations that create them.\u201d

AMIA leaders say the country needs to take intentional steps to capitalize on standards to achieve easier and more useful information exchange.

\u201cInnovation depends on interoperability, and interoperability depends on the use of quality standards,\u201d said Douglas B. Fridsma, MD, AMIA\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cTo make the ISA impactful, we need an overarching framework, similar to the Internet Protocol stack. Once established, this standard framework will enable the private sector to innovate in all directions.\u201d

\u201cFor the past several years we\u2019ve made tremendous progress on health IT standards, which has had a significant impact on patient care,\u201d said Thomas Payne, MD, AMIA\u2019s board chair and medical director of IT services at the University of Washington\u2019s UW Medicine. \u201cBut now, we must learn from lessons past, and take a more intentional approach to how we develop standards, test standards and combine standards for implementation and use.\u201d
","saveContent":"The nation needs a more robust and modern way of testing healthcare information technology standards, as well as an update to plans for the interoperability \u201croadmap\u201d it\u2019s following to improve the exchange of medical information.

Those suggestions are among several offered by the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) in a comment letter sent this week to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

AMIA, in responding to a request for comments on ONC\u2019s Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA), went beyond merely discussing provisions of the advisory to add the organization\u2019s thoughts on the direction of interoperability within the healthcare industry.

\u201cWhile recent enhancements to the content and presentation of the ISA have improved the capacity for stakeholder debate, there remains a need for unbiased, strategic leadership on the current status and future direction of health IT standards,\u201d said AMIA\u2019s letter to Don Rucker, MD, national coordinator for health information technology. \u201cWe believe this leadership is best derived from private sector experience, with public investment and convening.\u201d

AMIA is asking ONC to establish a dedicated roadmap for standards, including development of a framework for how multiple standards should fit together to support interoperability, both for national use cases and the broader health IT ecosystem, which it considers to include research and consumer products.

Also See:<\/b> ONC to tackle barriers to EHR usability and interoperability<\/a>

The organization said the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap could be a starting point to enhance the national health IT strategy. It calls for ONC to adopt three recommendations to achieve the full potential of interoperability:

* Updating and enhancing the interoperability roadmap, including \u201ca detailed gap analysis of current and potential standards to address priority national use cases.\u201d

* Enhancing testing and improving test tools to ensure standards actually enable progress. \u201cVery few standards undergo rigorous testing at the development level or implementation level,\u201d AMIA\u2019s letter states. \u201cBoth are critical if interoperability is to occur.\u201d

*Investing and aligning funding toward the goal of improved standards. \u201cAs the national dialogue continues in the direction of information models and the use of ever-more nuanced vocabularies for various use cases, we recommend that ONC coordinate investment in terminologies and reference standards that might be used in combination,\u201d the organization suggests. \u201cAMIA recommends adequate funding for the development, management, testing and maintenance of HIT standards, as well as the standards developing organizations that create them.\u201d

AMIA leaders say the country needs to take intentional steps to capitalize on standards to achieve easier and more useful information exchange.

\u201cInnovation depends on interoperability, and interoperability depends on the use of quality standards,\u201d said Douglas B. Fridsma, MD, AMIA\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cTo make the ISA impactful, we need an overarching framework, similar to the Internet Protocol stack. Once established, this standard framework will enable the private sector to innovate in all directions.\u201d

\u201cFor the past several years we\u2019ve made tremendous progress on health IT standards, which has had a significant impact on patient care,\u201d said Thomas Payne, MD, AMIA\u2019s board chair and medical director of IT services at the University of Washington\u2019s UW Medicine. \u201cBut now, we must learn from lessons past, and take a more intentional approach to how we develop standards, test standards and combine standards for implementation and use.\u201d
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AMIA seeks better standards testing, update to interoperability map

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