On Oct. 30, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) released the final version of the 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan. The nonbinding policy document is intended to help guide federal agencies with health IT-related policies, regulations, research programs or implementations.
The strategic plan was first published by the ONC in 2008 and later mandated by Congress through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to be updated every five years. The 2020-2025 version identifies four overarching goals:
- Promote Health and Wellness.
- Enhance the Delivery and Experience of Care.
- Build a Secure, Data-Driven Ecosystem to Accelerate Research and Innovation.
- Connect Healthcare With Data.
It also includes corresponding secondary objectives and strategies meant to provide high-level guidance to federal agencies interested in voluntarily incorporating these aspirations into relevant activities.
The American College of Radiology® submitted brief comments in March 2020 regarding the draft version of the plan focused on broad image exchange and artificial intelligence considerations. Moving forward, we expect the continued relevance of the document in the next administration.