The Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has published its final 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategy, which seeks to enhance care delivery and experiences for patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, public health professionals and others in the healthcare continuum.

By focusing on person-centered, inclusive design as the first of its federal health information technology principles, ASTP says the plan seeks to "strengthen individual's ability to securely access and use their own health information to take greater control over their own health." 

WHY IT MATTERS

In accordance with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, HHS developed the new strategic health IT plan, published September 30, to present federal goals and objectives and detail how federal agencies will regulate, purchase, develop, fund, research and use health IT to improve patient care and health outcomes. 

The draft, which ASTP released in March for public comment, followed a comprehensive and collaborative effort with more than 25 federal agencies central to the advancement of health IT, HHS said. 

As part of Goal 1, the federal government plans to "support individuals in accessing and using their EHI securely, privately and without special effort individuals." 

A big part of helping unserved or underserved populations – low-income, members of racial, ethnic, Tribal and rural communities and persons with disabilities – to securely and conveniently access and use electronic health information, is "expanding access to affordable smartphones, broadband and other connected technologies."

That goal is tied to improving broadband access in both rural and urban areas, according to the strategy document. 

One objective of Goal 4 directs federal agencies to "enhance and expand broadband access, adoption and use and promote the availability of critical communications infrastructure and services" to address identified needs and gaps in health IT infrastructure.

"The 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," Michele Ellison, Federal Communications Commission general counsel and chair of the agency’s Connect2Health Task Force, said in the HHS statement. 

THE LARGER TREND

In the final Federal Health IT Strategy, the government said it plans to build on the progress of the previous plan, which centered on making appropriate electronic health record sharing "the expected norm in healthcare." 

To that end, the 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan promoted a modern health IT infrastructure and addressed barriers to access, exchange and use of EHI. 

Of note, as of September 17, "more than 41,500 facilities in all 50 states and two territories are actively sending electronic initial case reports to public health agencies using electronic case reporting as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Modernization Initiative," the 2024-2030 strategy document said.

The federal government also emphasized the policy and technology components necessary to support the diverse data needs of all health IT users, noting that the 2024-2030 strategy supports the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency and Information Sharing final rule, known as HTI-1. 

On the cybersecurity side, it also aligns with the HHS Healthcare Sector Cybersecurity concept paper and voluntary healthcare-specific Cybersecurity Performance Goals.

While the American Hospital Association has said it supports the CPGs, the provider organization pushed back on the earlier HHS proposal to penalize hospitals for cyberattacks which the agency included in its cybersecurity strategy paper released last year. 

Then in July – after the Change Healthcare and Ascension cyberattacks – U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner, D-Va.., wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger to urge them to end voluntary cybersecurity requirements and make the minimum cyber standards that are already under consideration mandatory.

ON THE RECORD

"The release of our latest health IT strategy is a culmination of partnerships across the federal government to examine the forces shaping the healthcare 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, assistant secretary for technology policy and national coordinator for health information technology, in an HHS statement.

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

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