[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 237 (Friday, December 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76986-76987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31159]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology; Health Information Technology; Request for Information 
Regarding the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 
(PCAST) Report Entitled ``Realizing the Full Potential of Health 
Information Technology To Improve Healthcare for Americans: The Path 
Forward''

AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology (ONC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: This document is a request for comments regarding the recently 
released PCAST report and its implications for the nation's health 
information technology (HIT) agenda and ONC's implementation of the 
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act 
(HITECH Act).

DATES: Comment Date: To be assured consideration, comments must be 
received at one of the addresses provided below, no later than 5 p.m. 
on January 17, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Because of staff and resource limitations, we cannot accept 
comments by facsimile (FAX) transmission. You may submit comments by 
any of the following methods (please do not submit duplicate comments).
    <bullet> Electronically: You may submit electronic comments on this 
request for information at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
``Submit a comment'' instructions. Attachments should be in Microsoft 
Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF.
    <bullet> Regular, Express, or Overnight Mail: Department of Health 
and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health 
Information Technology, Attention: Steven Posnack, Hubert H. Humphrey 
Building, Suite 729D, 200 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20201. 
Please submit one original and two copies. Please also allow sufficient 
time for mailed comments to be received before the close of the comment 
period.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery or Courier: Office of the National 
Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Attention: Steven 
Posnack, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Suite 729D, 200 Independence 
Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20201. Please submit one original and two 
copies. (Because access to the interior of the Hubert H. Humphrey 
Building is not readily available to persons without Federal government 
identification, commenters are encouraged to leave their comments in 
the mail drop slots located in the main lobby of the building.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Posnack, Director, Federal 
Policy Division, Office of Policy and Planning, Office of the National 
Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 202-690-7151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Inspection of Public Comments: All comments received before the 
close of the comment period will be available for public inspection, 
including any personally identifiable or confidential business 
information that is included in a comment. Please do not include 
anything in your comment submission that you do not wish to share with 
the general public. Such information includes, but is not limited to: A 
person's Social Security number; date of birth; driver's license 
number; State identification number or foreign country equivalent; 
passport number; financial account number; credit or debit card number; 
any personal health information; or any business information that could 
be considered to be proprietary. We will post all comments received 
before the close of the comment period at http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the search instructions on that Web site to view public 
comments.

I. Background

    On December 8, 2010, the President's Council of Advisors on Science 
and Technology (PCAST) released an important new report entitled 
``Realizing the Full Potential of Health Information Technology To 
Improve Healthcare for Americans: The Path Forward'' (the PCAST 
Report). (The full report is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast and also available on ONC's Web site 
http://healthit.hhs.gov). PCAST is an advisory group of the nation's 
leading scientists and engineers who directly advise the President and 
the Executive Office of the President. PCAST makes policy 
recommendations in the many areas where understanding of science, 
technology, and innovation is key to strengthening our economy and 
forming policy that works for the American people. PCAST is 
administered by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). 
PCAST's report and its recommendations have significant implications 
for the nation's HIT agenda and the implementation of the HITECH Act, 
passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(Recovery Act) (Pub. L. 111-5). ONC seeks public comment on the PCAST 
report's vision and recommendations and how they may be best addressed.

II. Solicitation of Comments

    ONC seeks comment on the questions below. Comments on other aspects 
of the PCAST report are also welcome.
    1. What standards, implementation specifications, certification 
criteria, and certification processes for electronic health record 
(EHR) technology and other HIT would be required to implement the 
following specific recommendations from the PCAST report:
    a. That ONC establish minimal standards for the metadata associated 
with tagged data elements;
    b. That ONC facilitate the rapid mapping of existing semantic 
taxonomies into tagged data elements;
    c. That certification of EHR technology and other HIT should focus 
on interoperability with reference implementations developed by ONC.
    2. What processes and approaches would facilitate the rapid 
development

[[Page 76987]]

and use of these standards, implementation specifications, 
certification criteria and certification processes?
    3. Given currently implemented information technology (IT) 
architectures and enterprises, what challenges will the industry face 
with respect to transitioning to the approach discussed in the PCAST 
report?
    a. Given currently implemented provider workflows, what are some 
challenges to populating the metadata that may be necessary to 
implement the approach discussed in the PCAST report?
    b. Alternatively, what are proposed solutions, or best practices 
from other industries, that could be leveraged to expedite these 
transitions?
    4. What technological developments and policy actions would be 
required to assure the privacy and security of health data in a 
national infrastructure for HIT that embodies the PCAST vision and 
recommendations?
    5. How might a system of Data Element Access Services (DEAS), as 
described in the report, be established, and what role should the 
Federal government assume in the oversight and/or governance of such a 
system?
    6. How might ONC best integrate the changes envisioned by the PCAST 
report into its work in preparation for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use?
    7. What are the implications of the PCAST report on HIT programs 
and activities, specifically, health information exchange and Federal 
agency activities, and how could ONC address those implications?
    8. Are there lessons learned regarding metadata tagging in other 
industries that ONC should be aware of?
    9. Are there lessons learned from initiatives to establish 
information-sharing languages (``universal languages'') in other 
sectors?

    Dated: December 7, 2010.
David Blumenthal,
National Coordinator, Office of the National Coordinator for HIT.
[FR Doc. 2010-31159 Filed 12-8-10; 11:15 am]
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