Office of the National Coordinator Released 2014 Priorities

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT’s privacy and security priorities recently released a list of their priorities for fiscal year 2014 starting on October 1, 2013. 

For those wondering, the ONC is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services and is headed by Farzad Mostashari, MD.  ONC duties include:

1.     Administer programs to guide healthcare providers as they “meaningfully use” certified electronic health record (HER) technology under the HITECH ActEHR incentive program.

2.     Development of standards and technologies that will facilitate interoperability and secure health information exchange (HIE).

The ONC’s 2014 agenda includes:

1.     Identify and address cybersecurity threats

2.     Provide technical assistance in:

A.   Security program management.

B.    Risk management

C.    Access management

D.   Integrity management

E.    Audit management

F.    Incident management

G.   Continuity management

H.   Chains of trust controls

I.      Workforce management

J.     Media management.

3.     Work with National Institute of Technology (NIST) and others to develop frameworks that provide a foundation for patient and provider identity management, which will ensure clinical information is associated with the correct patient and/or provider.

4.     Continue to further privacy and security in future stages of the HITECH Act.

Has the ONC chosen the right privacy and security and priorities?

I believe they have chosen the appropriate priorities for security management.  My suggestion would be for the ONC to also concentrate on interoperability issues.  The number of proprietary systems in existence creates significant challenges for organizations attempting to comply with “meaningful use” initiatives.  Furthermore, critical access hospitals are struggling with just meeting mandated milestones, thus leaving security initiatives as a last priority.

Article Referenced:

Kolbasuk McGee, Marianne.  ONC’s New Privacy, Security Priorities: Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Outlines Goals.  Safe and Sound.  Found on July 5, 2013.  Retrieved from