Dive Brief:
- The Office of the National Coordinator has published comments on its Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap.
- The first draft was released in January 2015 and public comments ended April 3, 2015.
- The initial comment review was mostly positive, according to Erica Galvez, ONC's interoperability portfolio manager. She said that most concerns were related to aggressiveness in standards adoption and governance processes. There were also concerns about privacy and security.
Dive Insight:
The ONC's Interoperability Roadmap, released at the beginning of the year, continues to draw mixed reactions as the industry struggles to achieve genuine interoperability. While some argue the document is too vague, HIMSS in April praised the agency for not shackling the industry with a strict prescriptive pathway. The comments reflect this mixed bag of responses to the document.
Andrew Schlafly, General Counsel for The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, said: "We urge the government to scale back its proposals and not expand into this field.The free market can work amazingly well when allowed to do so."
Teresa Lee, executive director for the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation, said: "The Alliance supports the direction of, and sentiment behind the roadmap, and commends the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's efforts in focusing attention on the need for national interoperability in health information technology."
ONC will release an updated draft later this year after reviewing comments and integrating suggestions.
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