ONC wants more resources to conduct PHI privacy campaign

Due to the growing use of mobile devices to exchange personal health information, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is calling for more resources to conduct a nationwide PHI privacy campaign.

As part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009, the ONC is mandated to educate the public on personal health information privacy. The agency needs to gather information about different segments of the public to conduct the campaign effectively, officials wrote in a proposal published Wednesday in the Federal Register.

Data collection will occur continuously through the 24 months of the campaign and be used to inform campaign strategies, messages, materials and Web sites.

ONC officials are proposing to increase ONC focus group burden hours and explore consumer attitudes and preferences regarding the communication of personal health information electronically using mobile devices.

Interested persons are invited to send comments on the proposal, regarding:

• the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency’s functions;
• the accuracy of the estimated burden;
• ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

The proposal can be found in the Federal Register

The ONC is accepting comments for 30 days.
 

Diana Manos

Senior Editor for Healthcare IT News

Follow Diana on Twitter @DManos_IT_News