[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 23250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9251]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


HIT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of HIT 
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 HIT Standards Committee develop a 
schedule for the assessment of policy recommendations developed by the 
HIT 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 May 4, 2011. In anticipation 
of receiving recommendations originally developed by the HIT Policy 
Committee, the HIT Standards Committee has created four (4) workgroups 
to analyze the areas of clinical quality, clinical operations, 
implementation, and privacy and security. Other groups are convened to 
address specific issues as needed, such as the Nationwide Health 
Information Network Power Team, the Consumer/Patient Engagement Power 
Team, and the Vocabulary Task Force.
    HIT Standards Committee's Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy 
Committee Recommendations is as follows:
    The National Coordinator will establish priority areas based in 
part on recommendations received from the HIT Policy Committee 
regarding health information technology standards, implementation 
specifications, and/or certification criteria. Once the HIT Standards 
Committee is informed of those priority areas, it will:
    (A) Direct the appropriate workgroup or other special group to 
develop a report for the HIT Standards Committee, to the extent 
possible, within 90 days, which will include, among other items, 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 HIT Standards Committee is 
expected to issue recommendation(s) to the National Coordinator.
    (B) Upon receipt of a report from a workgroup or other special 
group, the HIT Standards Committee will:
    (1) Accept the timeline provided by the subcommittee, and, if 
necessary, revise it; and
    (2) Assign subcommittee(s) 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 HIT 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 HIT Standards Committee meetings, please 
visit the ONC web site at http://healthit.hhs.gov.
    Notice of this schedule is given under the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5), section 3003.

    Dated: April 11, 2012.
MacKenzie Robertson,
FACA Program Manager, Office of Policy and Planning, Office of the 
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2012-9251 Filed 4-17-12; 8:45 am]
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