The document, now open for public comment, presents the broad federal strategy which sets the context and framing of the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap to be released in early 2015.
With the first national health IT interoperability roadmap imminent, the 2015–2020 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan is doubling down on making incompatible information systems collect, share and use health data with each other.
The 20-page plan, updated every three years, was released Monday, following collaboration with more than 35 federal agencies and the authors of the plan at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
It contains half as many mentions of interoperability as its predecessor.
The Strategic Plan, which is open for comments, serves as the broad federal strategy setting the context and framing the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap that will be released in early 2015. The Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap will help to define the implementation of how the federal government and private sector will approach sharing health information.
"We are a purchaser, payer, provider and regulator of industry and of healthcare and of public health and other inputs to health, and that's what this document is meant to reflect," said Karen DeSalvo, M.D., national coordinator for health IT and acting assistant secretary for health, during a media phone briefing.
"We are continuing to advance collection of health information in the digital space, thinking about that collection beyond the set of eligible providers that have been the focus of the meaningful use program, connecting the care continuum," she said.
The plan's "strong emphasis on interoperability" and sharing of data is aimed at engaging and empowering individuals to become "real partners" in their healthcare, DeSalvo added.
"There's a strong sense, both within the federal government and the private sector, that it's time for the data to move, and then the uses can come to fruition, and that's going to encourage the further collection of additional health information."
Incorporating Behavioral Health
Like the previous plan, the new one aspires to integrate behavioral health information into healthcare in general, but it lays out few concrete goals for achieving that objective, such as getting all behavioral health providers to use electronic health records. "We don't have a baseline yet, so it's hard to know," DeSalvo said.
"Where I'd [like] the country to be is where Vermont is, where they've got almost all of their behavioral health providers that are stood up on electronic health records and ready to join the information exchange."
ONC is exploring options such as using accountable care organizations to accelerate adoption of EHRs in behavioral health, DeSalvo added.
Of necessity, the new draft plan does look beyond the meaningful use incentive program—a key driver of the 2011 strategic plan—since the lion's share of dollars for that program have now been paid out.
Open for Comment
Privacy, security, governance, and various business drivers for exchange and interoperability, including value-based payment, to be elaborated upon in the ten-year roadmap, will be foundational parts of the strategy, said Seth Pazinski, director of the office of planning, evaluation and analysis at ONC.
Goals of the new plan include expanding adoption of health IT; advancing secure and interoperable health information; strengthening healthcare delivery; advancing the health and well-being of individuals and communities; and advancing research, scientific knowledge, and innovation.
The comment period on the Strategic Plan ends Feb. 6, 2015.
ONC hopes to see substantial feedback from states, the private sector and individuals on the draft plan, DeSalvo said. "We want to know if we're focusing on the things that matter," she said.
The 10-year ONC interoperability roadmap, due in January, looks to begin shaping an implementation of many of the goals of the strategic plan, DeSalvo said.
Scott Mace is the former senior technology editor for HealthLeaders Media. He is now the senior editor, custom content at H3.Group.