Who Is Department Of Health And Human Services

The U.S. Department of Health and Homo Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level agency in the executive branch of the federal government. Its mission is to heighten and protect the well-existence of all Americans by providing effective wellness and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health and social services.

HHS is responsible for administrating programs that deal with health, welfare and health information technology (health IT). The Department works with nigh i-fourth of all federal government expenditures and administers more grant dollars than all other federal agencies combined. HHS' programs are administered by eleven operating divisions:

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Administration for Community Living (ACL)
Agency for Health Enquiry and Quality (AHRQ)
Bureau for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Centers for Disease Command and Prevention (CDC)
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Food and Drug Assistants (FDA)
Health Resources and Services Assistants (HRSA)
Indian Health Service (IHS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

HHS also includes the U.South. Public Wellness Service Deputed Corps (USPHS), which is overseen by the surgeon full general.

However, another important aspect of HHS' job is overseeing the implementation of certain types of health Information technology. The agency has been active in this area in several means, including:

Providing guidance for healthcare awarding development;
Providing guidance to protect against ransomware attacks;
Working toward fully agreement new cutting-border technology such as blockchain; and
Actively administering a wellness Information technology infrastructure.

Furthermore, the Secretary of HHS Sylvia Burwell has become a leader in the health It space, including publicly speaking out virtually the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and information blocking.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

CMS administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs as well as oversees the Children'due south Wellness Insurance Program (Flake), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and more than.

In 2009, CMS was charged with several key tasks for advancing wellness It via the Health It for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Deed, including the implementation of EHR incentive programs, defining the meaningful use of certified EHR technology, drafting standards for the certification of EHR technology, and updating the health data privacy and security regulations under HIPAA.

Many of these efforts are being done in conjunction with the Part of the National Coordinator for Health It (ONC), which also comes under HHS.

Part of the National Coordinator for Health Information technology

Former President George W. Bush created the ONC in 2004 and the role was written into legislation by the HITECH Act. The ONC's purpose is to promote a national health Information technology infrastructure and oversee its development. This includes policy coordination, strategic planning for the adoption of health IT and health data exchanges (HIE), establishing the Nationwide Wellness Information Network and promoting a national health IT infrastructure.

The ONC aims to achieve its ultimate goal, promoting a national health IT infrastructure, by improving the quality of healthcare while reducing costs; improving the coordination of care and information among hospitals, labs, physicians and other healthcare organizations; ensuring that personal health records (PHR) remain secure; and promoting the early detection, prevention and management of chronic illnesses.

This was final updated in September 2016

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