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Oregon's Health IT Strategic Plan

What is Oregon's Health IT Strategic Plan

The Oregon Health Policy Board voted in support of HITOC's five-year strategic plan on May 7, 2024.

Oregon's Strategic Plan for Health Information Technology 2024-2028

Executive Summary: Strategic Plan for Health IT, 2024-2028

Resumen ejecutivo: Plan Estratégico de Tecnología de la Información (TI) de Salud de Oregon 2024-2028

The Health Information Technology Oversight Council (HITOC) develops the Strategic Plan to provide high-level priorities for information technology (IT) over the next five years. It outlines the overall vision and the focus areas for partners across the health IT landscape in Oregon to focus their efforts for statewide progress. The plan was developed over a multi-year process involving HITOC meetings, two workgroups, and extensive community engagement (See Community Engagement and Input Report 2018-2023).

The Strategic Plan is for everyone using or impacted by health IT in Oregon, including but not limited to consumers and patients, providers and clinic staff, community-based organizations (CBOs), hospitals, health systems, coordinated care organizations (CCOs) and health insurance plans (payers), technology partners, and state agencies.

The Strategic Plan includes HITOC's Vision, Goals, Principles, Strategies, and Activities for health IT in Oregon. The Strategies focus on patients and consumers, electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchange (HIE), community information exchange (CIE), interoperability, and governance.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) established a goal of eliminating health inequities by 2030 and is working to improve the health care system. Effective use of health IT is critical to support these efforts. HITOC is responsible for setting health IT strategies for Oregon that advance health equity and improve the health system.

HITOC and OHA welcome input on this Strategic Plan or other topics at any time. Engagement in HITOC's work is ongoing, and HITOC welcomes public comment either at its meetings or in writing at any time to HITOC.INFO@odhsoha.oregon.gov.

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What health IT is and why it matters

Technology plays a big part in our everyday lives, including health care. People use health IT to collect, store, access, organize, and share health information. It is the technology that individuals, health care providers, and health systems use. Health IT can help:

  • Individuals, and those they designate, access their own health information and engage in their care through tools like patient portals (like MyChart) or apps and wearable monitors that patients use as part of managing their health
  • Health care providers, such as physical, behavioral, and oral health, improve patient care through access to up-to-date health information using tools like electronic health records (EHRs) that store and display health information and health information exchange (HIE) that shares health information from one health care organization to another
  • Care teams and community-based organizations (CBOs)
    • Share information and work together to improve health outcomes and reduce barriers, and
    • Connect people to services and resources to address social needs, such as housing, food, and transportation, through tools like community information exchange (CIE), which improves health outcomes
  • Coordinated care organizations (CCOs), health plans, and providers measure quality, analyze data, and identify health disparities to understand what's needed to improve the health care system

How to share your input

HITOC and OHA are seeking input from communities, health care partners, and all partners interested in or impacted by health IT! Your input on where health IT is working well and where Oregon needs to change course is critical. There are three ways to provide your input:

  1. Listening sessions were held in September 2023, and open to the public. They were designed to capture community feedback through open discussion with opportunity for questions and answers. HITOC and OHA hosted these events to hear from all people across Oregon on their experiences with health IT, and their thoughts on the developing health IT strategies.

    2. OHA welcomes all participants. If you have any questions about accommodations or need any assistance to participate in a webinar please contact: HITOC.INFO@odhsoha.oregon.gov or (503) 373-7859 (voice/text). All relay calls are accepted.


  2. Submit written comment: Share your experiences with health IT by emailing HITOC.INFO@odhsoha.oregon.gov before 10/1/23. Some examples of questions to consider are:
  3. Make public comment at a HITOC meeting (click link for how to attend)


To see a summary of past engagement see: Community Engagement and Input Report 2018-2023.

Where HITOC needs your input: HITOC and OHA need your input on the developing vision, principles, goals, and strategies for health IT. Please see the Call for Input and Overview (Español) for more details on HITOC's developing strategic plan areas.

You can learn more on our How to share your input page.

Process

HITOC discusses components of the Strategic Plan at their meetings, which occur the first Thursday of every even month. All HITOC meetings, workgroup meetings, and educational webinars are open to the public. You can view the schedule for upcoming HITOC meetings here. All HITOC and workgroup meetings are recorded, and slides and materials from each meeting are posted on the respective websites. Any strategic plan documents will be posted on our materials page as they develop.

HITOC also chartered a Health Information Exchange (HIE) Workgroup (completed August 2023) and a Community Information Exchange (CIE) Workgroup (completed November 2022) to dive more deeply into specific topics. These groups developed “concept papers" on their recommended strategies to accelerate, support, and improve HIE and CIE in Oregon to inform HITOC and OHA.

In addition, OHA staff support this work in several ways: providing background and landscape on health IT topics, slides and documents describing health IT challenges and opportunities, facilitating HITOC discussion and public listening sessions, and summarizing HITOC goals and strategies under consideration for public input.

Key resources

Below are Key Resources for the developing Strategic Plan. Please see our Materials and Resources page for additional resources, such as full Workgroup recommendations and legislative reports.


Everyone has a right to know about and use Oregon Health Authority (OHA) programs and services. For help please contact HITOC.INFO@odhsoha.oregon.gov or (503) 373-7859 (voice/text). We accept all relay calls. Some examples of the free help OHA can provide are:

  • Sign language and spoken language interpreters
  • Written materials in other languages
  • Braille
  • Real-time captioning (CART)
  • Large print
  • Audio and other formats