On October 17, 2018, the Physician Clinical Registry Coalition submitted a comment letter to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in response to a request for information on the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Reporting Program established by the 21st Century Cures Act (the Cures Act).  The Cures Act requires the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop an EHR Reporting Program and establish reporting criteria that address security, interoperability, usability and user-centered design, and conformation to certification testing, as well as other categories as appropriate, which may include those suggested in the statute.

In the interoperability category, the Coalition urged ONC to establish reporting criteria that include information about how EHRs exchange electronic health information with registries and the usability of such data.  This information will assist efficient exchange of health information and allow providers and clinicians to make informed decisions about their EHR vendors. The Coalition also strongly encouraged ONC to prioritize the inclusion of the “submitting, editing, and retrieving data from registries, such as clinician-led clinical data registries” category in the EHR Reporting Program, as suggested by the Cures Act.

Click here to read the full letter.