Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

American Health Information Community

What is the American Health Information Community?
The American Health Information Community (the Community) is a group of stakeholders who will provide input and recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on how to make health records digital and interoperable, and provide assurance that the privacy and security of those records are protected.

Why is it necessary?
Interoperability is a shared goal across the health care industry by payers, providers, vendors, and consumers. The multitude of competitive interests in the marketplace has prevented a unified effort to achieve common standards and interoperability. The national strategy for achieving interoperability of digital health information calls for Federal agencies – who pay more than one third of all health care costs – to collaborate with private payers in developing and adopting an architecture, standards, certification process, and a method of governance for ongoing implementation of health IT. Once the market has structure, patients, providers, medical professionals, and vendors will be better able to innovate, create efficiencies, and improve care.

HHS, in conjunction with other federal entities, will do its part by adopting standards and data-sharing processes for Internet-based applications that will help Federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare support the use of digital and interoperable health records that are privacy-protected and secure. The Community will help the Federal government make this transition in a smooth, market-led way.

What benefits will consumers and others receive from the Community?
The Community will help with the widespread adoption of electronic health records and related health information technology improvements that will result in fewer mistakes, lower costs, less hassle, and better care. Health IT can help prevent many medical errors. The Institute of Medicine estimates that medical errors kill 45,000 to 98,000 Americans each year in hospitals. Moreover, health IT can reduce costs by saving time and reducing duplication and waste – lowering health care costs by as much as 10%. Consumers not only benefit by saving money and receiving better care, but also by saving time. Patients will not have to give their address, insurance information, and other basic information over and over again. More importantly, the information needed to treat patients effectively will be a computer click away, no matter where the patient is receiving care.

How will the Community be organized?
The Community will be organized pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The use of a Federal advisory committee allows open public meetings and widespread stakeholder participation in which everyone has a voice.

Who will serve as members of the Community?
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt will appoint up to 17 members from the public and private sectors with the following make-up:

Public Sector – 9 Members. Eight members from the federal government and one member from state government will be appointed, including representatives from the following entities:

• Department of Health and Human Services, including the Office of the Secretary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Public Health Service
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Department of Defense
• Department of Commerce
• Department of the Treasury
• Office of Personnel Management
• State leader (e.g., a governor, state CIO, or other state official)

Private Sector – 8 Eight members from the private sector will be appointed from the following stakeholder groups:

• Consumer and Privacy Interests
• Purchasers
• Third-Party Payers
• Hospitals
• Physicians
• Nurses
• Ancillary Services (e.g., laboratories and pharmacists)
• Information Technology Vendors

What type of expertise is being sought in private sector candidates for the Community?
Each representative should be a key decision-maker in his or her industry and should have broad support from their peers and related professional organizations.

What is the expected frequency of meetings?
The Community meetings may be held up to 12 times per year

When will the first meeting of the Community take place?
The first Community meeting is expected to take place in September 2005

Will there be reimbursement for travel for Community members and a per diem for food and lodging?
Members who are not full-time Federal employees shall be paid at the rate of $250 per day, plus per diem and travel expenses in accordance with Standard Government Travel Regulations.

What is the process for submitting a nomination?
To be considered for membership in the Community, please send a one-page letter summarizing your qualifications by August 5, 2005. If you have already sent in a nomination and have received a written response that indicates receipt of your information, then your nomination has already been filed. If you would like to amend a previous submission after reading the charter, please send your amended nomination with the word RESUBMISSION in bold letters on the cover of your letter. Please send all nominations to only ONE of the following destinations:

How will individuals be notified that their nomination has been received?
Persons responding by e-mail to onchit.request@hhs.gov will receive an electronic response. Persons submitting nominations through the mail will receive a paper response. We recommend sending nominations via e-mail for the fastest response.

Can I still apply for the Community if I (or my company / organization) have responded to one of the four Requests for Proposal announced by the Office of the National Coordinator on June 6, 2005?
Yes. Potential candidates who have responded to the recent Requests for Proposal on health information technology will need to declare this fact and refrain from certain discussions if selected.

What is the deadline to submit a nomination for the American Health Information Community?
The deadline for submitting nominations for the Community is 5 pm, EDT, Friday, August 5, 2005

How will patients be represented?
The Community will include one designated member who will represent patient interests. In addition, the activities and meetings of the Community will be open and transparent to all stakeholders, including patient advocacy groups.

What is the Community’s role in protecting people’s privacy?
One of the specific tasks of the Community is to make recommendations on how to protect confidentiality and security. The Community will include at least one member representing privacy interests, and the activities and meetings of the Community will be open and transparent to privacy and security stakeholders who wish to provide input and feedback.

How will the Community create a self-sustaining, non-governmental equivalent?
The dissolution of the Community will be written into its charter with a goal of ultimately creating a self-sustaining, private-sector replacement. A specific task of the Community will be to make recommendations on how to transition into a private-sector health information community initiative within five years.

Once the charter ends, what will the Community have accomplished?
The work of the Community will improve the quality of health care in the country, reduce medical errors, lower healthcare costs, and minimize hassle. It will accomplish these benefits by developing and making recommendations for:

• Protection of health information through appropriate privacy and security practices.
• Ongoing harmonization of industry-wide health IT standards.
• Achievement of an Internet-based nationwide health information network that includes information tools, specialized network functions, and security protections for interoperable health information exchange.
• Acceleration of interoperable electronic health records (EHR) adoption across the broad spectrum of health care providers.
Compliance certification and inspection processes for EHRs, including infrastructure components through which EHRs interoperate.
• Identification of health IT standards for use by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in a Federal Information Processing Standards process relevant to Federal agencies.
• Identification and prioritization of specific use cases for which health IT is valuable, beneficial and feasible, such as adverse drug event reporting, electronic prescribing, lab and claims information sharing, public health, bioterrorism surveillance, and advanced research.
• Succession of the Community by a private-sector health information community initiative.

How can I find out more information on the Community?
For questions on the American Health Information Community nomination process, please call this toll free number: 1-866-505-3500.

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