HEALTH POLICY BRIEF — Friday, July 31

Executive Briefing

This is a slow morning, but not an empty one. Two developments merit attention: ONC’s economically significant deregulatory final rule is now at OIRA, and final USCDI Version 7 creates a concrete standards-review window. No verified congressional status change or other fresh signal cleared the physician-policy threshold.

Federal Health Policy Watch

ONC’s deregulatory final rule is pending at OIRA. OIRA received Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: ASTP/ONC Deregulatory Actions to Unleash Prosperity on July 28. The action is at final-rule stage, is economically significant, has no legal deadline, and remains pending under RIN 0955-AA09.

The important restraint: no final text is public. The proposal would have removed 34 of 60 certification criteria, revised seven others, eliminated DSI “model card” requirements, reduced real-world testing and Insights obligations, and changed information-blocking policy. Those are proposed provisions—not a preview that can safely be mistaken for the final answer.

Policy relevance: OIRA review is the credible near-term release signal. If the final rule tracks the proposal, it could cut developer compliance costs while also removing federal testing and AI-transparency assurances on which smaller practices disproportionately rely.

Physician policy angle: The final balance could shift safety, procurement, information-blocking, and due-diligence risk downstream to physicians and practices. Prepare the analysis now; make the judgment when the text exists. OIRA review record (https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eoDetails?rrid=1485172) | Proposed rule (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23896/health-data-technology-and-interoperability-astponc-deregulatory-actions-to-unleash-prosperity)

Standards / Coding / Data Infrastructure

USCDI Version 7 is final, with a Version 8 input window now open. ONC released v7 on July 23 and amplified its Standards Bulletin yesterday. The final standard adds 30 data elements and significantly revises one, for 31 overall additions; 15 are already represented in implementation specifications required by the ONC Health IT Certification Program. Notable additions include appointments, referral orders and notes, medical-device orders, medication administration, accommodation, adverse-event data, and new contextual attributes.

This does not make v7 an immediate mandatory certification baseline. Adoption pathways and implementation timing still matter. Meanwhile, recommendations and comments for USCDI v8 are due September 28 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Policy relevance: USCDI feeds this publication’s coverage focus across nationwide exchange, certification pathways, TEFCA, and CMS interoperability policy. The v8 window creates a real standards-advocacy hook rather than another ceremonial release announcement.

Physician policy angle: Better referral, appointment, medication, device, and accommodation data could reduce coordination failures—but only if vendors reuse existing data and automate exchange. Thirty-one “new” elements should not become thirty-one new boxes for clinicians to feed. ONC Standards Bulletin 2026-2 (https://healthit.gov/standards-and-technology/onc-standards-bulletin/onc-standards-bulletin-2026-2/)

Signal Scan

The X scan completed with findings. One official ONC post changed the source picture by surfacing the final USCDI v7 bulletin; the remaining social items were stale, generic, or not sufficiently verified and were excluded. Official ONC post (https://x.com/ONC_HealthIT/status/2082819499825250423)

Policy Action Implications

- Monitor OIRA clearance and public inspection daily; prebuild a rapid crosswalk covering certification, DSI/AI transparency, real-world testing, Insights reporting, information blocking, TEFCA, and small-practice reliance on vendor assurances.

- Compare final USCDI v7 against the existing comment record, with special attention to data maturity, terminology, workflow burden, and reuse rather than fresh manual documentation.

- Decide which gaps warrant targeted USCDI v8 recommendations before September 28.