ONC Seeks Comments on Governance for Nationwide Health Information Network

ONC Seeks Comments on Governance for Nationwide Health Information Network ONC is requesting public comments on its Request for Information on Governance of the Nationwide Health Information Network, which was put on public display today by the Office of the Federal Register's Public Inspection. The key components of the proposed governance approach include: ·       a focus on entities that facilitate electronic health information exchange; ·       a set of conditions for trusted exchange (CTEs) in three areas: safeguards, interoperability, and business practices; ·       a voluntary validation process for entities to demonstrate conformance to the CTEs and to increase provider confidence that the exchange entities meet these requirements; ·       processes to regularly update and improve CTEs; ·       a process to classify the readiness of technical standards and implementation specifications to support interoperability CTEs; and ·       approaches for monitoring and transparent oversight In order to receive the best input from all stakeholders on governance issues that HHS is considering, the RFI includes many questions about these proposals. The public comment period closes 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. We expect publication in the Federal Register to occur on May 15, 2012. We encourage all stakeholders, including consumers and patients, to provide feedback on these proposals. Read the Health IT Buzz blog for more information about the RFI and how to comment.