ONC requests comment on Draft USCDI version 5

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is asking for feedback on its draft Core Data for Interoperability, Version 5 from the United States. It is also looking for examples of code sets used by health IT developers and implementers to communicate data, the agency said.

ONC, which is accepting comments until April 15, is targeting the release of the final USCDI v5 before July 2024.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Draft USCDI v5 focuses on adding standardized classes of health data and constituent data elements that improve patient care and facilitate patient access.

According to Thursday’s ONC Standards Bulletin, the agency received more than 60 submissions recommending new data elements and more than 330 comments on previously submitted data elements that it considered in developing the draft data set.

ONC evaluated the submissions in the fourth quarter of 2023 and proposes two data classes and 13 data elements in the update.

ONC is requesting suggestions for improvements to the data classes or elements in Draft USCDI v5, including data class and element definitions, usage notes and examples, as well as examples of code sets used by healthcare IT developers.

In the draft, ONC asks stakeholders for feedback, including: “Should other data elements, already classified as Level 2 on the USCDI web pages, be added to USCDI v5 instead of, or in addition to, those in Draft USCDI v5 ? If so, why?”

ONC also asked about barriers to the development, implementation, or use of these data elements and whether they warrant a change in definition or removal from Draft USCDI v5.

The agency noted that it will work with the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, or HITAC, to gather feedback on the draft.

THE BIG TREND

ONC last published USCDI v4 last July, after receiving nearly 600 comments, including many from HITAC.

The agency has raised the baseline for its HIT certification program by including USCDI v3 in the recently completed Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing Final Rule, or HTI-1.

HTI-1 notes that USCDI v3 will be the only USCDI version required within the certification program beginning January 1, 2026. Version 3 includes additions on gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity, along with other data elements.

With the new certification rule, ONC has also adopted the following:

• HL7 FHIR US Core 6.1.0, aligned with USCDI v3 data elements for FHIR APIs.
• Replaceable Medical Applications, App Launch Implementation Guide for Reusable Technologies.
• Updated Terminology Standards in Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms, US Edition.

“This final rule revises several criteria for program certification, including criteria related to decision support, electronic case reporting, and standards-based (APIs) and increases the basic version of the USCDI from version 1 to version 3,” ONC said in the final. Summary of the HTI-1 rule.

ON THE RECORD

“ONC continues to work with state and federal agencies to identify areas where more work is needed to inform future versions of USCDI,” agency officials said in the draft. “ONC recognizes that there are specific but important use cases that require consistency and alignment across data sets beyond USCDI.”