The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is seeking public input on reporting criteria under the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Reporting Program for health IT developers, as required by the 21st Century Cures Act.
ONC issued a request for information (RFI) on criteria to measure the performance of certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT). The Cures Act requires that health IT developers report information on certified health IT as a condition of certification and maintenance of certification under the ONC Health IT Certification Program.
According to the Cures Act, the EHR Reporting Program’s reporting criteria should address the following five categories: security; interoperability; usability and user-centered design; conformance to certification testing; and other categories, as appropriate to measure the performance of certified EHR technology.
In addition, the Cures Act also suggests several other categories for consideration, including: enabling users to order and view results of laboratory tests, imaging tests, and other diagnostic tests; exchanging data with clinical registries; accessing and exchanging data from medical devices, health information exchanges, and other health care providers; accessing and exchanging data held by federal, state, and local agencies.
“In reviewing the RFI questions, commenters should consider existing sources of information about health IT products,” ONC wrote in the RFI. “Commenters should also consider how reporting criteria for different stakeholders could be constructed based on their differing perspectives, especially, for example, since health IT developers will be required to respond to reporting criteria for their product(s) in order to maintain the product’s certification. To prevent duplication of efforts, commenters should consider what other information is lacking from the existing sources about health IT products and what the reporting criteria under the EHR Reporting Program could uniquely contribute.”
What’s more, ONC wrote that given the wide range of data that is reported to HHS and other agencies, the agency is seeking to avoid duplicate reporting through the EHR Reporting Program. “We are interested in stakeholders’ input on information already available from health IT acquisition decision makers and users who report to Federal programs that could be re-used and factored into the EHR Reporting Program. We are particularly interested in any data reported by providers participating in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) programs since they can be considered verified users of certified health IT,” ONC wrote.
ONC also says it is interested in getting feedback on reporting criteria that will provide timely and reliable information in ways that is not “unduly burdensome to users and to small and start-up developers.”
Comments will be accepted until October 17 at 5 p.m. ET.
