[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 153 (Monday, August 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47934-47935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19620]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Health IT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of 
Health IT Policy Committee Recommendations

AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Section 3003(b)(3) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act of 2009 mandates that the Health IT Standards Committee develop a 
schedule for the assessment of policy recommendations developed by the 
Health IT Policy Committee and publish it in the Federal Register. This 
notice fulfills the requirements of Section 3003(b)(3) and updates the 
schedule posted in the Federal Register on August 18, 2014. In 
anticipation of receiving recommendations originally developed by the 
Health IT Policy Committee, the Health IT Standards Committee will form 
task forces that will be convened to address specific issues, as 
needed.
    Health IT Standards Committee's Schedule for the Assessment of 
Health IT Policy Committee Recommendations is as follows:
    The National Coordinator will establish priority areas based in 
part on recommendations received from the Health IT Policy Committee 
regarding health information technology standards, implementation 
specifications, and/or certification criteria. Once the Health IT 
Standards Committee is informed of those priority areas, it will:
    (A) Identify the best mechanism by which to organize itself in 
order to respond to the National Coordinator within 90 days with, at a 
minimum, the following:
    (1) An assessment of what standards, implementation specifications, 
and certification criteria are currently available to meet the priority 
area;
    (2) An assessment of where gaps exist (i.e., no standard is 
available or harmonization is required because more than one standard 
exists) and identify potential organizations that have the capability 
to address those gaps; and
    (3) a timeline, which may also account for NIST testing, where 
appropriate, and include dates when the Health IT Standards Committee 
is expected to issue recommendation(s) to the National Coordinator.
    (B) Upon responding to the National Coordinator, the Health IT 
Standards Committee will:

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    (1) Approve a timeline by which it will deliver recommendations to 
the National Coordinator; and
    (2) Determine whether to establish a task force to conduct research 
and solicit testimony, where appropriate, and issue recommendations to 
the full committee in a timely manner.
    (C) Advise the National Coordinator, consistent with the accepted 
timeline in (B)(1) and after NIST testing, where appropriate, on 
standards, implementation specifications, and/or certification 
criteria, for the National Coordinator's review and determination 
whether or not to endorse the recommendations, and possible adoption of 
the proposed recommendations by the Secretary of the Department of 
Health and Human Services.
    The standards and related topics which the Health IT Standards 
Committee is expected to address over the coming year include, but may 
not be limited to: Quality measurement; the extended portfolio of 
standards for the nationwide health information network; distributed 
queries and results; radiology; consumer-mediated information exchange; 
public health; data portability; and a process for the maintenance of 
standards.
    For a listing of upcoming Health IT Standards Committee meetings, 
please visit the ONC Web site at http://www.healthit.gov/facas/calendar.
    Notice of this schedule is given under the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5), section 3003.

    Dated: August 3, 2015.
Michelle Consolazio,
FACA Lead, Office of Policy, Office of the National Coordinator for 
Health Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2015-19620 Filed 8-7-15; 8:45 am]
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