The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has launched a new effort aimed at standardizing healthcare data sets for federal agencies with unique requirements that aren’t met by the current baseline.
- New generations: In an announcement blog post, ONC stated that this new procedure will help federal partners “who have a need to generate, harmonize, and advance the usage of interoperable datasets that expand beyond the core data in the USCDI in order to address agency-specific programmatic objectives.”
- Initiative: Using the formal USCDI+ initiative to coordinate this identification and setup process will allow ONC to ensure that any enhancements to federal partners’ data requirements are built on a single USCDI foundation, according to the office.
- Expansion: “On the one hand, we want to keep expanding [USCDI] to drive more interoperability,” ONC wrote in the announcement. “But on the other hand, we need to be judicious about what and how much to add in any given year because of the USCDI’s broad applicability to certified [electronic health records], interoperability transactions, and its potential effect on user experience and workflow.”
- Participation: ONC said it is in the early stages of this initiative with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additional federal agencies will also participate “once we’ve gotten the program more firmly established,” ONC said.
- Evolutions: “The USCDI+ effort will help providers take the need to sift through multiple evolving standards-making body announcements off their plates,” CHIME CEO Russell Branzell said in the statement. “This enables our members to focus on what matters most, caring for patients and continuing to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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