E9-30673. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology HIT Policy Committee's NHIN Workgroup Meeting; Notice of Meeting

AGENCY:

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS

ACTION:

Notice of meeting.

This notice announces a forthcoming subcommittee meeting of a federal advisory committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public.

Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee's Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) Workgroup.

General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to the National Coordinator on a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that permits the electronic exchange and use of health information as is consistent with the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan and that includes recommendations on the areas in which standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. The NHIN Workgroup is charged with creating a policy and technical framework that allows the internet to be used for the secure and standards-based exchange of health information, in a way that is open to all and fosters innovation.

Date and Time: The meeting will be held on January 7, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m./Eastern Time.

Location: To be determined. Please check the ONC Web site for additional information as it becomes available. The meeting will be available via webcast; visit http://healthit.hhs.gov for instructions on how to listen via telephone or Web.

Contact Person: Judy Sparrow, Office of the National Coordinator, HHS, 330 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 20201, 202-205-4528, Fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Please call the contact person for up-to-date information on this meeting. A notice in the Federal Register about last minute modifications that impact a previously announced advisory committee meeting cannot always be published quickly enough to provide timely notice.

Agenda: The workgroup will be discussing the nationwide health information network (NHIN), with a primary emphasis on authentication mechanisms used by the NHIN and the private sector. The workgroup will be hearing testimony from stakeholder groups. ONC intends to make background material available to the public no later than two (2) business days prior to the meeting. If ONC is unable to post the background material on its Web site prior to the meeting, it will be made publicly available at the location of the advisory committee meeting, and the background material will be posed on ONC's Web site after the meeting, at http://healthit.hhs.gov. The meeting will be available via webcast; visit http://healthit.hhs.gov for instructions on how to listen via telephone or Web.

Procedure: Interested persons may present data, information, or views, orally or in writing, on issues pending before the committee. Written submissions may be made to the contact person on or before January 4, 2010. Oral comments from the pubic will be scheduled between approximately 11 a.m. and noon/Eastern Time. Time allotted for each presentation will be limited to three minutes. If the number of speakers requesting to comment is greater than can be reasonably accommodated during the scheduled open public hearing session, ONC will take written comments after the meeting until close of business on that day.

Persons attending Workgroup meetings are advised that the agency is not responsible for providing access to electrical outlets.

ONC welcomes the attendance of the public at its advisory committee meetings. Seating is limited at the location, and ONC will make every effort to accommodate persons with physical disabilities or special needs. If you require special accommodations due to a disability, please contact Judy Sparrow at least seven (7) days in advance of the meeting.

ONC is committed to the orderly conduct of its advisory committee meetings. Please visit our Web site at http://healthit.hhs.go v for procedures on public conduct during advisory committee meetings.

Notice of this meeting is given under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 5 U.S.C., App. 2).

Dated: December 18, 2009.

Judith Sparrow,

Office of Programs and Coordination, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.