The American Medical Informatics Association is urging the federal government to update its interoperability standards in comments submitted to ONC.
The comments were in response to a September call from ONC, which sought feedback on its Interoperability Standards Advisory.
AMIA, which developed its own health IT data standards and interoperability principles and positions, recommended ONC establish a dedicated "roadmap for standards, including development of a framework for how multiple standards should fit together to support interoperability for important, national uses cases, and the broader health IT ecosystem." The informatics experts say the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap would be the best starting point.
"Innovation depends on interoperability, and interoperability depends on the use of quality standards," said Douglas B. Fridsma, MD, PhD, AMIA president and CEO. "To make the ISA impactful we need an overarching framework, similar to the Internet Protocol stack. Once established, this standards framework will enable the private sector to innovate in all directions."
The group adds that developing a system to test health IT standards should also be valued at ONC.
"Thorough testing remains an unrealized aspect of our nationwide approach to standards," the comments state. "Very few standards undergo rigorous testing at the development-level or at the implementation-level. Both are critical if interoperability is to occur."
Click here to read the full comments.
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