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ONC releases draft Federal Health IT Strategic Plan for public comment
In the draft Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, ONC focuses on areas such as public health, health equity, and responsible AI use in healthcare.
ONC has released the draft 2024–2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan for public comment.
The agency developed the draft in partnership with more than 25 federal organizations.
The preceding 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan drove progress across government and industry to improve the access, sharing, and use of electronic health information (EHI).
The 2024–2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan aims to build upon this progress, with an increased focus on areas such as public health, health equity, and artificial intelligence (AI).
"ONC and its federal partners addressed several considerations to ensure the draft Plan's effectiveness and relevance in an ever-evolving healthcare landscape," a HealthITBuzz blog post noted.
For instance, the draft plan identifies opportunities to modernize public health data infrastructure to address technological gaps underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the draft seeks to advance health equity by promoting equitable access to EHI and communications technology, as well as fair representation in research initiatives.
Lastly, the draft plan emphasizes the urgent need for the federal government to navigate the use of AI in healthcare to ensure responsible and effective use of the technology.
This plan is set to serve as a roadmap for federal health IT initiatives and catalyze private sector activities.
In particular, the final plan will help to:
- Prioritize funding within federal agencies
- Coordinate federal health IT activities
- Indicate health IT priorities to the private sector
- Benchmark the progress of federal health IT initiatives
The public comment period on the draft plan ends on May 28, 2024, at 11:59:59 PM ET.