[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 195 (Friday, October 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 62399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25345]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology; 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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 26, 2009. In 
anticipation of receiving recommendations originally developed by the 
HIT Policy Committee, the HIT Standards Committee has created four (4) 
workgroups or subcommittees to analyze the areas of clinical quality, 
clinical operations, implementation, and privacy and security.

HIT Standards Committee Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy 
Committee Recommendations

    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 subcommittee 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 subcommittee report, 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 Health and Human 
Services.
    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.

Erin Poetter,
Office of Policy and Planning, Office of the National Coordinator for 
Health Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2010-25345 Filed 10-7-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-45-P