The Key Components of the ONC's Mission in the HITECH Act

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) was first established by President Bush in 2004, with the mission of providing leadership in establishing and implementing, nationwide, an infrastructure for the interoperability of health information, to improve the efficiency and quality of health care. In 2009, the HITECH Act legislatively strengthened the ONC’s mandate in this leadership and oversight role. As such the ONC published an in depth mission statement.

The modern mission of the ONC, established and formalized by the HITECH Act, first centers around the promotion of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure, for the electronic transfer and use of information. This aims, among other things, to improve the coordination of care and information among physicians, labs, and hospitals and periphery health care organizations; to reduce the costs of health care while improving the quality; ensure personal health records are secured and remain private under proper stewardship; and promote the early identification, prevention and management of chronic illnesses. In addition, it includes a mandate for gathering meaningful input and feedback from the public for the development of infrastructure; improves public health activities for the early detection and rapid response to public health emergencies; advances a more effective health care marketplace; and refines endeavors to reduce health care disparities.

The ONC’s modern mission, under the HITECH Act, is quite a bit more broad than just the promotion of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure through interoperability. The mission extends to the coordination of health information technology policy and strategic planning for health information exchanges (HIEs) and health information adoption. Beyond localized HIEs, the ONC mission includes the establishment of governance for the Nationwide Health Information Network. For this governance to work, one of the key components in the ONC’s mission is standardization. The mission charges the ONC with “providing leadership in the development, recognition, and implementation of standards and the certification of health information technology products” (Wagner, Lee, Glaser. 2009).

With the passage of the HITECH Act in 2009, the directive of ONC expanded and became more formalized. The overall mission of the ONC is to provide leadership in the development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure. The expansion and formalization of the ONC’s mission, via the HITECH Act, includes standards setting and certification, promotion of HIEs and establishing governance for a nationwide health information network. The goal being to improve quality of health care while reducing costs and ensuring health information is used for the greater good of the public; by promoting the development of HIEs and a nationwide health information network, and facilitating the early identification and expedited response to public emergencies.

Wager KA, Lee FW, Glaser JP, Wager KA. Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; 2009.

Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority; Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology [Internet]. Federal Register. 2014 [cited 2016Nov28]. Available from: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/06/03/2014-12981/statement-of-organization-functions-and-delegations-of-authority-office-of-the-national-coordinator