On Jan. 12, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) released the draft version 2 (V2) of the U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) for public comment.
The USCDI is a standardized set of health data classes and elements for nationwide health information exchange. It is incorporated by reference into several HHS regulations and other programs, such as the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement. The draft V2 was informed by numerous submissions from public stakeholders which were evaluated and selected for inclusion by ONC staff and advisors.
Among various proposals, the draft USCDI V2 would establish an overarching data class for “Diagnostic Imaging.” This new data class would include two new data elements for “Diagnostic Imaging Orders” and “Diagnostic Imaging Reports.” These new elements were recommended for USCDI inclusion by the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes Document Ontology Subcommittee. ONC also proposes to reclassify the existing “Diagnostic Imaging Narrative” data element from the USCDI version one “Clinical Notes” data class into the V2 “Diagnostic Imaging” data class.
ONC’s public comment period for the draft USCDI V2 will close on April 15, and the agency plans to finalize V2 by the end of the year. The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) Commission on Informatics is currently reviewing the agency’s proposals and will guide any future ACR comments.
ACR members with an interest in informing the future comment submission should email Michael Peters, ACR Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs.