The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) leads the administration’s health IT efforts and is charged with coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information.
Deeper dive
ONC is organizationally located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The position of National Coordinator was created in 2004, through an Executive Order, and legislatively mandated in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009.
The ONC has provided funding for a number of health IT programs, including the development of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN)—a set of standards, services, and policies that enable the secure exchange of health information over the Internet. The NwHIN is NOT a physical network — it sets the standards, services, and policies which help transition health care from a paper-based patient record system to a securely stored and shared electronic process that follows the patient. This improves clinical decision making and has uses beyond direct patient care, such as measuring quality of care.