Today the ONC has issued the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020 that lays out the vision, goals, and actions that the federal government intends to apply the effective use of health IT immediately and in the coming years. This outlined plans aims to modernize the nation’s health IT infrastructure to enable individuals, their providers, and communities achieve their health and wellness goals. The ONC states that this robust health IT infrastructure should support the dynamic use of electronic information for:
– individuals to manage their health
– providers that can deliver high-quality care to their patients
– public health entities and long-term services to improve community health
– scientists and innovators that can advance cutting-edge research and solutions
In a blog post announcement, Karen DeSalvo, M.D., national coordinator for health IT and acting assistant secretary for health states:
Karen DeSalvo, M.D
“With the release of the Plan, we now turn our attention toward achieving the Plan’s goals, while following the principles that guide our core vision. Where the Plan has a broad scope, its implementation has a singular focus: improving the health and well-being of this nation through responsive, collective engagement on health IT and information use.
We will continue to work with stakeholders to evaluate progress as the health IT infrastructure advances and new health, information, and technology needs arise. This engagement will help us prioritize health IT efforts and identify strategic gaps, and will help stakeholders better understand the federal intent of various policies and actions. Together, we will use the Plan’s principles to help direct us to our final shared destination of high-quality care, lower costs, healthy population and engaged people.”
Plan’s Framework
The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020 includes four overarching goals:
Goal 1: Advance Person-Centered and Self-Managed Health
• Objective A: Empower individual, family, and caregiver health management and engagement
• Objective B: Foster individual, provider, and community partnerships
Goal 2: Transform Health Care Delivery and Community Health
• Objective A: Improve health care quality, access, and experience through safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and person-centered care
• Objective B: Support the delivery of high-value health care
• Objective C: Protect and promote public health and healthy, resilient communities
Goal 3: Foster Research, Scientific Knowledge, and Innovation
• Objective A: Increase access to and usability of high-quality electronic health information and services
• Objective B: Accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative technologies and solutions
• Objective C: Invest, disseminate, and translate research on how health IT can improve health and care delivery
Goal 4: Enhance Nation’s Health IT Infrastructure
• Objective A: Finalize and implement the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap
• Objective B: Protect the privacy and security of health information
• Objective C: Identify, prioritize, and advance technical standards to support secure and interoperable health information and health IT
• Objective D: Increase user and market confidence in the safety and safe use of health IT products, systems, and services
• Objective E: Advance a national communications infrastructure that supports health, safety, and care delivery
