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The National e-health Collaborative, which provides supporting services to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, has launched the National HIE Governance Forum as regulators and stakeholders seek some controls over how health information should be exchanged.

“This forum will bring together entities that are currently serving in governance roles for specific groups of health information exchange partners at the national, state, or regional level,” according to National e-Health Collaborative. “Throughout the coming year, they will identify key issues and common challenges in the governance of health information exchange along with best practices to address them. Their lessons learned will be widely shared.”

ONC last year issued a request for information as it sought to develop a federal HIE governance regulatory program. The industry hit back hard at the regulators, believing they were overreaching. ONC stepped back and began to look for non-regulatory approaches to achieving HIE governance.

The new National HIE Governance Forum is an initial step in a process that also will include awarding up to four grants to develop specific solutions for data exchange barriers, publishing a framework of good governance principles, and monitoring the HIE ecosystem, according to a new ONC blog.

Applications to participate in the forum are due by March 15 with more information here.