Report: ONC Hit Hard by Federal Government Shutdown
A report on the website of the publication Government Health IT
offers details of how the federal government shutdown that began at midnight on Tuesday morning, Oct. 1., will affect the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) overall, as well as departments within HHS, including the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), the Indian Health Service (HIS), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
According to the Government Health IT report, ONC “was hit particularly hard. Of the total 184 on-board staffers at ONC, only four will be retained and charged with handling that orderly phase-down and suspension of operations. Indeed,” the report noted, “the government shutdown means ONC will put on hold its Standards and Interoperability work, privacy and security policy activities, clinical quality measure development, as well as maintaining the Certified Health IT Product List.”
And it added that “On Tuesday morning, outgoing national coordinator Farzad Mostashari, M.D. revealed on Twitter that the monthly HIT Policy meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 2, is cancelled.”
Healthcare Informatics will continue to bring readers updates on this developing story.
