[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25355-25356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10871]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


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.

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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 October 8, 2010. 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's Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy 
Committee Recommendations is as follows: 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

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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 the Department 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.

    Dated: April 25, 2011.
Judith Sparrow,
Office of Policy and Planning, Office of the National Coordinator for 
Health Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2011-10871 Filed 5-3-11; 8:45 am]
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