AHA: ONC interoperability standards advisory requires more specific information

The American Hospital Association is emphasizing the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to give more particular data on the features and metrics it has utilized to assess the readiness of standards and implementation specifications in its draft 2017 Interoperability Standards Advisory. ONC interoperability standards advisory requires more specific details.

In accordance to ONC, the advisory is meant to serve as a “coordinated catalog of standards and implementation specifications” to be utilized by industry as a single, public list to meet interoperability requirements focused explicitly on clinical health information technology. Although, AHA would like to see higher detail in how ONC distinguishes mature from emerging standards.

“The consistent utilization of mature standards is necessary to solving the interoperability issues facing our nation,” wrote Ashley Thompson, AHA’s senior vice president for public policy analysis and development, to National Coordinator for Health IT Vindell Washington, MD.

In specific, AHA needs to see ONC prioritize outreach to organizations conducting maturity assessments so that upcoming versions of the ONC Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) can involve this reference. The association also suggests that the agency utilize the ISA to make publicly present the feedback it get on the adoption experience of standards and implementation specifications.

Moreover, AHA recommends that the 2017 ONC Interoperability Standards Advisory also involve data on actual standards use in the real world, and not merely adoption.

As an outcome, AHA asserts that the draft 2017 ISA must assess the victorious use of the included standards, not merely adoption, in case to rightly evaluate the capability of a standard to support interoperability.

Additionally, AHA suggests that ONC support the work of private-sector steps that are educating stakeholders about the availability and readiness of the proposed standards, particularly as they pertain to interoperability.

“The majority of the standards involved in the Draft 2017 ISA don’t show whether a test tool is present to determine conformance to the standard or the implementation specification,” claims the letter. “Positive outcomes from conformance testing will add confidence that a standard is all prepared to support the interoperability requirements of providers.”

An ONC spokesman stated that the agency doesn’t respond to written comments, like those from AHA, however it does review them and they will assist to inform the final advisory.