ONC looking to expand oversight powers of EHR vendors

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) filed a notice of proposed rule making on March 2, 2016. This proposed rule includes new requirements under the ONC Health IT Certification Program. In the proposed rule, ONC hopes to gain oversight capabilities and to "support reliability, transparency, accountability, and safety of certified health IT," according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The proposed rule focuses on 3 key elements: direct review of certified health IT products (including electronic health record systems), enhanced oversight of health IT testing bodies, and greater transparency of surveillance results of certified health IT. See HHS' press release here and read the proposed rule here.