ONC on Feb. 24 released a new agenda to address the gaps between health IT infrastructure, electronic health data and clinical research opportunities.
ONC worked with federal partners and gathered input from stakeholders to develop its National Health IT Priorities for Research: A Policy and Development Agenda report. The report outlines nine strategies to address data, tools and infrastructure needs to support the alignment between clinical and research ecosystems over the next three to five years.
For its first goal, "Leveraging high-quality electronic health data for research," ONC listed the following priorities:
1. Improve data quality at the point of capture by collecting individual data points accurately, consistently and in a standardized format to ensure the integrity of the electronic health data for research.
2. Increase data harmonization to enable research uses across different organizations and in accordance with privacy and security safeguards.
3. Improve access to interoperable electronic health data so authorized users can analyze the data needed to answer clinical research questions.
For its second goal, "Advancing a health IT infrastructure to support research," ONC listed the following priorities:
4. Improve services for efficient data storage and discovery to increase the availability of research data for future projects.
5. Integrate emerging health and health-related data sources, such as social determinants of health and patient-generated health data, in a standardized way.
6. Improve methods and tools to support data aggregation across various sources in both clinical and research ecosystems.
7. Develop tools and functions to support research, including tools that support de-identification and use of de-identified datasets as well as patient-centered consent tools that allow patients to control and update their data-sharing preferences.
8. Leverage health IT systems to increase education and participation of patients and providers in clinical research projects.
9. Accelerating integration of knowledge at the point of care so research findings can be made available directly within the health IT infrastructure.
To achieve its goals outlined in the agenda, ONC is working with the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Health Administration and private sector stakeholders.
Click here to access the full report.