The Consumer Preferences Draft Requirements Document is available for download:
In April and June of 2008, the American Health Information Community (AHIC) approved a recommendation to develop documents that address Extensions/Gaps from the Use Cases published between 2006 and 2008. One of the Extensions/Gaps prioritized for subsequent processing in the national health information technology (HIT) agenda activities in early 2009 was consumer preferences. AHIC requested that the 2009 Consumer Preferences Extension/Gap address the electronic exchange of information describing consumer preferences between consumers, healthcare providers, healthcare entities, entities involved in health information exchange activities and with other entities as authorized by the consumer.
In the development of this Requirements Document the AHIC priorities, 2009 Consumer Preferences Extension/Gap and other previous publications were referenced. This Consumer Preferences Requirements Document will provide further context for the national health information technology agenda activities, beginning with the selection of harmonized standards by HITSP. Therefore, this Requirements Document is intended to expand upon the Consumer Preferences Extension/Gap Document that was published in early 2009.
In subsequent activities, the harmonized standards will be tested, refined and implemented. Components that need to be considered during the standards identification and harmonization activities include a standardized vocabulary, data elements, data sets and technical standards that support the information needs and processes of consumers and those involved in implementing consumer preferences. During the development of the document there will be an opportunity for review and feedback by interested stakeholders within both the public and private sectors.
To date, neither the ONC Coordinated Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, nor the national health information technology agenda, including the activities of AHIC and HITSP, has formally addressed all of the interoperability considerations for the communication of consumer preferences to support the goal of patient/consumer focused healthcare and population health.
Therefore, the purpose of this document is to support the ONC Strategic Plan and the national HIT agenda related to standards development and harmonization process by describing business processes, information exchanges, stakeholders, functional requirements, issues and policy implications involving consumer preferences.
