News Feature | June 9, 2015

Health IT Standards Committee Accepting New Members

By Megan Williams, contributing writer

Health IT Standards Committee Accepting New Members

With the advent of ACOs, HIEs, and the ever-increasing importance of data in the healthcare landscape, the impact of federal oversight on the healthcare industry can only be expected to increase. Vendors interested in contributing to the decision-making process around that oversight will be interested in HealthIT.gov’s most recent announcement.

ONC Soliciting Stakeholders

One of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) Federal Advisory Committees, the Health IT Standards Committee (HITSC) is beginning its work through several workgroup models, according to the agency website. The committee is also in a period where many of its original members are reaching their term limits. In an effort to start filling positions, HITSC last month opened a membership renewal cycle that will finish out this year and run into early 2016.

The agency is tasked with public feedback, and to best adjust to the membership transition, they are looking at overall operations and reexamining the efficient use of resources as aided by recommendations. According to the blog, “In light of recent experiences, we believe that an HITSC with targeted, time-limited task forces will be a better way to get the expert and public feedback we need. This approach also provides task force members with clear and finite time commitments to study an issue with more specificity on the scope and nature of a task force’s work.”

Interested Applicants

All stakeholders interested in participating in a task force are invited to signal interest by submitting an application here at the FACA membership application form via HealthIT.gov.

The positions are unpaid volunteer positions and involve some travel. Workgroup meetings are generally conducted via web and phone, and the possibility of in-person hearings does exist. All in-person meetings will be in the greater D.C. area, and expenses are covered for members. Virtual participation is also an option. Time commitments run one to two hours every few weeks.

What HITSC Does

The HITECH act required the establishment of a Health Information Technology Policy Committee. This committee issues recommendations on policies around enabling the exchange of electronic health information. The committee is involved in:

  • recommendations around privacy
  • information exchange
  • security measures
  • consumer access to health information
  • personal health records
  • segmentation of health information
  • information sharing practices

Its sister committee, HITSC deliberates on standards around HIT that are required for electronic data exchanges. It holds hearings to better understand topics such as the effectiveness of existing security procedures, vulnerabilities, and understanding security priorities. Both committees submit their recommendations to the National Coordinator, who then evaluates those recommendations and advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.