The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) announced Tuesday that it has extended its contract with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through April 30, 2010.
"Since HITSP's formation in 2005, the panel has been working to advance the widespread adoption and interoperability of electronic health records," said Fran Schrotter, HITSP project director and senior vice president and chief operating officer of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the organization that administers the panel.
"We are very grateful to the thousands of volunteer technical experts who have worked countless hours to create HITSP work products that help to enable health IT interoperability," she said. "Keeping this momentum going is a tremendous priority for us, and we are pleased that HHS has granted a contract extension that allows HITSP to continue its outreach efforts."
During this contract extension period, the panel will hold monthly informational update calls, participate in the HIMSS10 Healthcare Information Technology Conference and Exhibition, and work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on a quality data demonstration project, according to Schrotter.
The HITSP website continues to be fully operational and accessible, offering stakeholders access to the panel's full program of work, as well as educational materials and archived webinars, Schrotter said.
The contract extension will assure that HITSP volunteers stay engaged going forward until the next phase of standards harmonization to be funded by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is announced, she said.
"ANSI and our strategic partners – the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, the Advanced Technology Institute, and Booz Allen Hamilton – are committed to progressing standards harmonization efforts and interoperability guidance in the health IT field," according to Schrotter.
"We are proud of HITSP's accomplishments and are dedicated to a continued partnership. We look forward to responding to any requests for proposals issued by ONC to further this important work," she said.
