[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 241 (Monday, December 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71413-71414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-6058]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Additional Consolidated Health Information (CHI) Health 
Information Technology Standards

AGENCY: Federal Health Architecture (FHA), Office of the National 
Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

ACTION: Notice: Additional Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) Health 
Information Technology Standards.

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SUMMARY: This notice identifies three (3) additional Consolidated 
Health Informatics (CHI) messaging and vocabulary standards 
(Multimedia, Allergy, and Disability and Assessments) adopted for use 
in Federal government health information technology systems. This work 
supplements the work to further the adoption of the first set of 5 
standards adopted on March 21, 2003 and second set of 15 standards 
adopted on May 6, 2004, as published in the December 23, 2005 Federal 
Register (70 FR 76287).
    The CHI initiative began in October 2001 as one of 24 E-Government 
initiatives included in the President's Management Agenda (PMA). The 
CHI collaborative worked to adopt Federal government-wide health 
information interoperability standards to be implemented by Federal 
agencies in order to enable the Fedral government to exchange 
electronic health information. By publication of this document, we are 
informing the public of the adoption of three new CHI standards, 
Multimedia, Allergy and Disability and Assessment (adoption reports 
available at: http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/chiinitiative.html).

CHI Adopted Standards

    As a result of work completed in furtherance of CHI, the three new 
domain areas and associated clinical standards that have been adopted 
are noted in the individual standards adoption reports found at http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/chiinitiative.html and are summarized below:
    1. Multimedia Messaging Standard:
     National Electrical Manufacturer's Association (NEMA) 
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOMSM) 
2004 Standard and higher.
    2. Allergy Messaging and Vocabulary Standard:
     Health Level Seven (HL7[supreg]) HL7[supreg] 2.4 and 
higher messaging standard allergy information segments.
     College of American Pathologists (CAP) Systematized 
Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT[supreg]) for allergy 
type, severity and reaction codes.
     National Library of Medicine (NLM) RxNorm for brand name 
allergen code.
     Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Unique Ingredient 
Identifier (UNII) codes for ingredient name allergen code.
     Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) National Drug File-
Reference Terminology (NDF-RT) for drug class allergen code.
     3. Disability and Assessments:
     Regenstrief Institute, Inc LOINC[supreg] (Logical 
Observation Identifiers Names and Codes[supreg]) representation and 
codes for questions and answers on federally-required assessment forms;
     CHI-endorsed semantic vocabulary matches linked with the 
LOINC[supreg] assessment questions and answers; and
     HL7[supreg] v2.4 and higher messaging standard and the 
HL7[supreg] CDA (Clinical Document Architecture (CDA)) for exchanging 
standardized federally-required assessment content.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2006, the CHI initiative was transitioned 
to the Federal Health Architecture (FHA) under the Office of the 
National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). Currently, the CHI standards 
are being coordinated with the public/private processes of Healthcare 
Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP).
    HITSP serves as a cooperative partnership between the public and 
private sectors for the purpose of achieving a widely accepted and 
useful set of standards specifically to enable and support widespread 
interoperability among healthcare software systems, as they will 
interact in a local, regional, and nationwide health information 
network.
    CHI endorsement has been identified as one of the HITSP standards 
adoption criteria employed to adopt standards for the HITSP 
Interoperability Specifications. The HITSP Interoperability 
Specifications are developed to advance the national agenda for secure, 
interoperable health information systems. (Notice of Availability, 72 
FR. 9339 (March 1, 2007).

Collection of Information Requirements

    This notice does not impose information collection and 
recordkeeping requirements subject to

[[Page 71414]]

review the paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)

Impact Statement

    We foresee this notice having the following indirect effects upon 
the public: This notice will result in indirect impacts for Federal 
contractors or potential contractors who may be involved in health 
information technology design, development, or evaluation. The Federal 
government will require all future federal health information 
acquisitions to be based on CHI standards when applicable and as 
permitted by law, whether system development occurs within the Agency 
or through use of contractor services.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vish Sankaran--(202) 205-2761.

    Authority: The E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347) (H.R. 
2458).

    Dated: December 7, 2007.
Robert M. Kolodner,
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Office of the 
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 07-6058 Filed 12-14-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-45-M