This National Minority Health Month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is highlighting its commitment to health equity for all. Achieving health equity requires a systemic change in health care. We need to make sure that communities that have been historically underserved, under-resourced, marginalized, or adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality have equal access and experiences with their health care.

Following its previous Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, the Health and Human Services Department is looking to continue the effort with its latest plan, which covers the next six years. HHS is now open for public comment. Officials are hoping to continue improving the exchange and availability of electronic health information. They also have some new goals in mind. Federal News Network’s Eric White got the chance to speak to one HHS official: Dustin Charles, Policy Specialist in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

State immunization information systems (IIS), also known as immunization registries, are population-based databases that record vaccinations administered by participating health care providers in a given state (1). Most states require providers to report certain vaccinations—frequently childhood immunizations—to their state’s IIS (2). IIS also became more commonly used to record adult vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary care physicians (PCPs), in particular, play a key role in administering and reporting immunizations to IIS, which are an important source of information for parents and the general public, as well as for assisting public health authorities with resource allocation, identifying populations at-risk for vaccine preventable disease, and informing programs to increase vaccination coverage (3). 

Case reports from doctors, hospitals, and other providers supply data that public health agencies need to detect and respond quickly to emerging threats, such as the seasonal flu or foodborne illnesses. ONC’s final rule advances electronic case reporting—the digital transmission of reportable data between health care providers and public health agencies—by requiring that EHR systems support one of two common technical standards for that reporting. The standards are known as HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR).

Hear from ONC's Rachel Nelson, compliance and administration branch chief in ONC’s office of policy, regulatory and policy affairs division. She leads an interdisciplinary team of subject-matter experts focused on advancing information sharing and patient safety.