Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

The legislation codifies the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), and establishes an open and transparent process led by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). The goal is to develop standards by 2010 that allow for secure, nationwide electronic exchange of health information. The law also establishes a Health IT Standards Committee to review and recommend standards and other policy recommendations to the ONC. The ONCHIT is also responsible for:

• Coordinating HIT policy and programs with other federal agencies
• Working in consultation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop a voluntary certification program for HIT
• Establishing a national governance mechanism for the national health information network 

There is an immediate $2 billion in discretionary funding available to the ONC for health information technology infrastructure, training, dissemination of best practices, telemedicine, inclusion of health information technology in clinical education, and state grants to promote health information technology.

The legislation also expands the definition of what constitutes a healthcare provider in order to enable these providers to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for EHR use.

HIT Policy Committee

The HIT Policy Committee will recommend what policies and regulations are necessary for implementing “meaningful use” of EHRs and to ensure effective implementation. The Committee will oversee the following required policy recommendations:

• Privacy and data security technologies
• HIT infrastructure that allows electronic information exchange
• Nationwide adoption
• Use of EHRs to improve care
• Encryption technology

HIT Standards Committee

The Health Information Technology Standards Committee will recommend health information technology standards, EHR applications certification standards, and other reporting and certification criteria to the National Coordinator. The HIT Standards Committee, which is required to create EHR standards by 2010, must implement an open and transparent process for developing new EHR standards and certification criteria and is responsible for updating the Federal Health IT Strategy Plan. The Committee’s primary goal is to establish objectives, milestones, and metrics for the healthcare provider community to promote the utilization of EHRs and to develop an EHR for every person in the United States by 2014. HIT Standards Committee duties include the following:

Recommend (through a consensus approach) standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for electronic exchanges of health information

• Pilot the testing of standards
• Serve as a forum for the participation of a broad range of stakeholders
• Develop, within 90 days, a long-range plan for addressing policy recommendations for the HIT Policy Committee
• Meet openly in public and manage an inclusive evaluation process 
• Publish all standards and criteria recommendations in the Federal Register