Three years into the Public Health Informatics and Technology (PHIT) Workforce Development Program ―an effort funded and led by ASTP to boost the public health information technology workforce in the US―the University of Texas Health Houston (UTHealth) has exceeded expectations and completed award milestones ahead of schedule. The program exceeded its original goal of training 1,900 students, reaching 2,065 students one year ahead of schedule. UTHealth’s efforts to provide its students with opportunities to secure meaningful, cutting-edge internships and jobs will help improve the health and well-being of the surrounding communities.

A year ago, based on the work led by the Pharmacy Interoperability and Emerging Therapeutics (PhIET) Task Force, the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) made recommendations to support interoperability between pharmacy constituents as well as the exchange of information necessary for medication management, patient safety, and consumer engagement.

Earlier this year, ASTP (formerly ONC) celebrated its 20th anniversary, marking both the progress made in health IT and the continued realization of ASTP’s vision for an interoperable health care ecosystem. Recently, we had the privilege of speaking with Micky Tripathi, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Acting Chief AI Officer at HHS. Our discussion explored the evolving landscape of health care interoperability, highlighting key achievements from both the public and private sectors as well as ongoing challenges in the quest for seamless global data exchange.

Epic has introduced new capabilities supporting Version 3 of the United States Core Data for Interoperability. They're available more than a year before the federally required December 2025 date to support the new data set. . . The Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare Technology completed its final health IT certification rule, which revised several program certification criteria and set a timeline for raising the baseline version of the USCDI from Version 1 to Version 3 by January 1, 2026. "The adoption of new and revised standards and criteria in this final rule will facilitate interoperability through standardized health information and functionality, which will lead to better care and health outcomes for patients while reducing burden and costs," said ONC (now known as ASTP/ONC) upon publication of HTI-1 in the Federal Register.

Patient-centric health IT has surged in the past decade, ONC reported.

Here are five top areas of growth for patient engagement in IT, according to the Oct. 31 blog post:

1. Hospitals that have adopted an EHR system: 96%

2. Prescribers using electronic prescriptions: 92%

3. Office-based physicians who have adopted an EHR system: 78%

4. Hospital engagement in all four areas of interoperability: 70%

5. Individuals offered and accessed a patient portal: 57%