ONC updates five-year federal plan for health IT

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology today updated the federal government’s five-year plan for using health IT to improve health care quality and health, lower costs and engage patients. “The work described in this Plan aims to modernize the U.S. health IT infrastructure so that individuals, their providers, and communities can use it to help achieve health and wellness goals,” the report states. The report’s four goals are supported by 13 objectives and numerous strategies, such as finalizing and implementing ONC’s Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap and encouraging the adoption and use of common standards through health IT certification, federal regulations and programs, and funding mechanisms.