The HIT Standards Committee

Today, HHS posted a call for nominations to the HIT Standards Committee.

I've previously described my hopes and expectations for the new HIT Committees:

"Although the ARRA's HIT Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee are still being formed, I do have a few thoughts about how all our organizations will evolve.

These Federal Advisory Committees (FACAs) will advise the government. They will not advise industry, payers, providers, or patients. I believe the FACAs will need multi-stakeholder groups to do the work they prioritize and to coordinate with all the stakeholders in the healthcare IT ecosystem. I believe there will be an ongoing need to harmonize standards, especially around quality measurement mentioned in ARRA several times.

The HIT Policy Committee will be a new committee. NeHC, CCHIT and HITSP are not specifically submitting slates of candidates, but we will happily support any of our members who self-nominate.

The HIT Standards Committee is a new committee, but it is my hope that NeHC will evolve to become the HIT Standards Committee. As the new Secretary of HHS is confirmed, hopefully we will get clarity in this area.

It is my hope that HITSP will continue its work and will report to the HIT Standards Committee. I have the same hope for CCHIT and its certification mission.

Thus, the existing excellent people will continue to advance the work, but we'll have new governance and new resources. I've very optimistic that ARRA will align all of us to do great things for the country and the cause of interoperability. All folks that have led these activities in the past are aligned and ready to support the vision of the new secretary."

Today, the National eHealth Collaborative posted its hopes and expectations, which I wanted to share with you:

National eHealth Collaborative Statement regarding the call for nominations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) HIT Standards Committee

“President Obama has made the rapid establishment of a national e-health information system a clear priority, and Congress has reinforced that goal through passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This objective is central to the National eHealth Collaborative’s vision and mission of fostering the effective use of interoperable health information and leading the creation of a secure interoperable nationwide health system that will advance the public’s interest in health and improve the quality, safety, efficiency and accessibility of healthcare for all Americans.

The HIT Standards Committee established by the ARRA will bring central focus and urgency to the interoperability efforts needed for such a nationwide network through the development of national standards, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services was given the option by Congress to recognize the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) as this Committee. However, the ARRA sets an aggressive timetable, which understandably requires that HHS move forward with a nominations process even as we await confirmation of a new Secretary.

The goals of NeHC and those of the HIT Standards Committee are highly complementary. NeHC’s unique membership constitution represents the full spectrum of public and private sector e-health stakeholders, including consumers and patients, healthcare providers, employers and payers, government officials, information technology experts, quality improvement experts, public health researchers, and privacy advocates, and in this time of urgent need for economic and healthcare reform, an already established and cross-functioning group of experts would be a strong asset to the work envisioned by the legislation. We remain committed to this possibility, and look forward to quickly engaging in a discussion about this and other possible NeHC contributions with Secretary-Designate Kathleen Sebelius upon her confirmation.

The National eHealth Collaborative strongly believes that a unifying public-private partnership is key to successfully implementing President Obama’s goal of an Electronic Health Record for every American by 2014. NeHC will continue to provide leadership and engage individuals, providers, institutions and all other stakeholders in a collaborative forum, working toward the shared goal of aggressively stimulating the use of health information technology in order to significantly improve the health and well being of all Americans, while respecting and protecting their privacy and security.”

I look forward to all our continued work together!