ONC Celebrates 18 Years of Advancing Health IT

On the 18th anniversary of the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), Deputy National Coordinator Steven Posnack released a statement reflecting on the agency’s past achievements that advanced health IT.

“On April 27, 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order (EO) 13335 and created the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC),” Posnack wrote in the blog post.

“Like tapping that first domino, this single action is a key moment in United States health IT history. Nearly two decades later, US policy and technology leadership in health IT is world-renowned,” Posnack added.

Posnack said ONC prides itself in remaining focused on the four original duties cast by EO 13335, which include:

• serving as the principal advisor for the Secretary on the development, application, and use of health IT
• ensuring that health information technology policy and programs of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are coordinated with those of related executive branch agencies
• organizing outreach and consultation with public and private parties
• offering comments and guidance on health IT at the request of the Office of Management and Budget

In the last 18 years, the agency has accomplished its fair share of remarkable events, Posnack added. One of the agency’s most notable achievements was introducing the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act.

“This dramatic change in what is arguably the most complex sector of our economy is a mammoth achievement,” Posnack stated.

Following the passage of the HITECH Act in 2009, more than $6 billion was invested into health IT and EHR-related companies.

A 2017 study showed that HITECH was directly responsible for the significant drive in hospital EHR adoption rates between 2011 and 2015.

“There are likely very few other policies that have driven such substantial change in such a short period,” the study researchers stated.

The launch of the ONC Health IT Certification Program was another outstanding achievement, Posnack outlined, assisting providers in meeting the criteria to fulfill requirements under the EHR Incentive Programs.

Since its launch in 2010, nearly all hospitals and 75 percent of ambulatory providers use certified EHRs, Posnack wrote.

According to the blog post, 22 federal programs now use the Health IT Certification Program, which accounts for hundreds of programs.

Additionally, the adoption of the 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria boosted interoperability.

A 2021 study showed that hospital interoperability rates doubled to 46 percent between 2014 and 2018.  ONC researchers found that the adoption of 2015 Edition certified health IT was responsible for 11 percent of that interoperability increase.

The 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law in 2016, also transformed health IT in numerous ways, fostering innovation in healthcare to deliver better information.

As part of the 21st Century Cures Act, the interoperability rule primarily focused on advancing interoperability and patient information blocking. A core part of the rule aims to increase patient access to electronic health information and patient data sharing, which helps patients coordinate their healthcare.

In the last several years, the proportion of hospitals that let patients view records increased from 24 percent in 2012 to 97 percent in 2019.

“Amidst these and other marquee moments, a few hundred past and present staff have come through ONCs ranks with a simple purpose in mind – to make the nation’s health better through the use of health IT. And that’s what keeps us going,” Posnack acknowledged.

“While there is no shortage of work to be done, it’s also important to take stock of how far we’ve come. That’s a testament to all of the national coordinators (with whom I’ve had the privilege to serve) and the remarkable continuity they’ve offered across administrations,” Posnack concluded.