The Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP) is currently working to finalize Version 6 of the standardized set of health data classes and constituent data elements for nationwide, interoperable health information exchange, known as USCDI. The public comment period recently closed on May 12, 2025, and according to the HealthIT.gov site, ASTP’s target release date is July 2025. The USCDI has also been described as a “baseline for exchange across care settings and use cases that share a common theme” and sets the technical and policy foundation for such exchanges.
According to ASTP Standards Bulletin 2025-1, new versions of USCDI are published annually by ASTP in order to “keep pace with clinical, technology, and policy changes that influence the use of clinical and related terminology.” Version 6, in particular, contains new proposed data elements that focus on interoperability for patient care, which include the following:
- Facility Information (Facility Address)
- Medical Devices (Unique Device Identifier)
- Orders (Portable Medical Order)
- Patient Summary and Plan (Care Plan)
- Problems (Date of Onset, Family Health History)
According to Bulletin 2025-1, in the new version, ASTP is “following the same prioritization approach applied to USCDI Version 5.” The new version is also said to reflect “ASTP’s consideration of submissions for new data elements, comments on previously submitted data elements, and the evolving maturity of data elements through the USCDI+ Program.”
Proposals for new data elements were submitted via the ONDEC submission system, which is the ONC New Data Element and Class Submission System. Once submitted, ASTP “evaluates and assigns a level to each data element depending on the overall value, maturity and challenges to implementation.” Submitted data is posted on the USCDI page by level.
Categories: DATA ACCESS & INTEROPERABILITY, Uncategorized
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