The August HIT Standards Committee

On August 22nd, the HIT Standards Committee held it's 50th meeting.   We began this milestone meeting by thinking Farzad Mostashari for his national service via a formal proclamation highlighting his accomplishments.  Richly deserved.

Liz Johnson and Carol Bean then presented an Implementation Workgroup update, describing the findings from the Implementation/Usability hearing on July 23rd and presenting test scenarios which will hopefully replace/augment the existing certification scripts.

They key idea is that scenarios would mirror real clinical workflow from registration to evaluation to transition of care, using the same data and building upon each incremental data entry step.   Such an approach not only reduces the burden of certification but also ensures the EHR is more than disconnected functions built to satisfy disconnect certification criteria.   In effect, scenarios demonstrate the usability of integrated functionality.   I'm also hoping that these scenarios remove some of the certification demonstrations are not part of attestation workflow.    In my view, certification should only include the minimum functionality clinicians need to support attestation and nothing more.   As I posted in my blog yesterday, creating too many regulatory demands can stifle innovation.

Next, Dixie Baker presented an NwHIN Power Team Update finalizing the recommendations for future transport standards.   She reviewed the work of Blue Button Plus, HL7's Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), and the S&I Framework's RESTful Health Exchange (RHEx) to identify industry trends and emerging standards.   The team concluded that combination of RESTful transport supported by a specific implementation guide and supplemented with OAuth2/OpenID for authentication holds great promise as a simpler to implement approach than currently required in Meaningful Use.   The team also concluded that FHIR has many appealing simplifications as a content standard.      The Standards Committee recommended pilots and once we have real world experience with the combination of RHEx/OAuth2/OpenID/FHIR we should seriously consider their incorporating into future stages of Meaningful Use.

Finally, Lauren Thompson and Jodi Daniel provided an ONC update, highlighting work to accelerate HIE, patient/family engagement, and safety.

At our September meeting we'll present initial recommendations for image exchange and early thinking about how to represent advance directives in EHRs.

Making progress.