The Health Information Technology for
Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act promotes the adoption and
meaningful use of health information technology (IT), particularly
in the context of working with government agencies. Similarly,
section 3004 of the Public Health Service Act requires health care
providers or health insurance issuers with government contracts to
implement, acquire, or upgrade their health IT systems and products
to meet adopted standards and implementation specifications. To
support expansion of SSA's health IT initiative as defined under
HITECH, SSA developed Form SSA-680, the Health IT Partner Program
Assessment – Participating Facilities and Available Content Form.
The SSA 680 allows healthcare providers to provide the information
SSA needs to determine their ability to exchange health information
with us electronically. We evaluate potential partners (i.e.,
healthcare providers and organizations) on (1) the accessibility of
health information they possess, and (2) the content value of their
electronic health records' systems for our disability adjudication
processes. SSA reviews the completeness of organizations' SSA-680
responses as one part of our careful analysis of their readiness to
enter into a health IT partnership with us. The respondents are
healthcare providers and organizations exchanging information with
the agency.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.