Announcing Metadata Pilots to Realize PCAST Vision

Those of you keeping a close eye on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and its activities might have noticed the advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that was published on Tuesday, August 9, 2011, requesting public input on a set of proposed metadata standards recommended to ONC by the HIT Standards Committee.

The immediate focus of the ANPRM is the association of metadata with summary care records, but we also welcome input on the use of metadata relative to other electronic health information contexts. To better inform future proposals, we expressed our interest in learning about stakeholders’ relevant metadata implementation experience and requested public comment on the results of any real-life testing or use of the metadata standards discussed the ANPRM.  The ANPRM builds upon the recommendations of the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees, which put forth analysis on how ONC could accelerate health information exchange consistent with the vision laid out by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) in the report it issued in December 2010.  The PCAST report envisions a robust health information exchange ecosystem in which patients and providers are able to privately and securely exchange health information across organizational boundaries...