Driving Digital Transformation of the ASTP/ONC Health IT Standards Community Platform

As the nation’s authority on health IT standards, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy National Coordinator for Health IT (ASTP/ONC) plays a central role in guiding the exchange of healthcare data across the U.S. healthcare ecosystem. To fulfill this mission, ONC maintains several critical digital resources, including the Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA), the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI), and the Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP).

Unified Entry Point for Health IT Standards

To better support a growing and diverse audience, including health IT developers, clinicians, public health experts, payors, providers, and patients, the ONC launched a modernization effort focused on improving how these resources are accessed and experienced online. The goal was to create a more cohesive, intuitive platform that reflects the full scope of ONC’s interoperability efforts and supports the agency’s broader digital transformation goals. ASSYST played a key role in bringing this vision to life through the design and development of the Interoperability Standards Platform (ISP), which supports the mission.

Built using Drupal, the new ISP homepage offers a central entry point for ISA, USCDI, and SVAP. ASSYST’s work ensured that all three standards resources were more prominently integrated into the platform experience, making it easier for stakeholders to engage with the full spectrum of standards guidance in one accessible location. The updated design delivers a more consistent user experience across the three standards areas while preserving the unique structure and purpose of each resource.

Improving Engagement and Streamlining Feedback

To support its broader modernization initiative, ONC worked with ASSYST to enhance the Interoperability Standards Platform, improving how stakeholders engage with standards information and contribute public feedback through a more accessible and efficient digital experience. ASSYST applied Human-Centered Design (HCD) and User-Centered Design (UCD) principles throughout the effort, using user research, iterative design, and accessibility best practices to ensure the platform met the needs of a wide range of users and aligned with federal digital service goals.

In parallel, ASSYST worked closely with ONC to streamline the public comment submission process. Previously, comments submitted online, often with attachments, had to be manually reviewed and entered into ONC’s Jira system for tracking and analysis. This slowed down the review cycle and limited ONC’s ability to respond quickly to new or evolving input. By enhancing the Drupal interface and integrating it directly with Jira, ASSYST introduced a structured, form-based submission system that significantly reduced manual effort. Public feedback now flows directly into ONC’s backend in a clean, actionable format, often within minutes of submission.

Accelerating Speed, Insight, and Stakeholder Experience

These improvements have helped ONC become more responsive to the community it serves. What once took days to process can now be completed in a fraction of the time. Staff can focus more on analyzing and acting on public input instead of managing it. And stakeholders benefit from a cleaner, more coherent experience when interacting with one of the federal government’s most important standards platforms.

The Interoperability Standards Platform has evolved not only to be more modern but also more mission-aligned, supporting ONC’s goal of creating a connected, interoperable healthcare environment. Through thoughtful design, open-source tools, and practical workflow automation, ASSYST helped ONC turn a complex system into an accessible and efficient one, advancing its digital transformation journey and setting the stage for the next generation of digital health innovation.