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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Information Technology (OIT)

Organization

OIT contains the following divisions and specialties:

You can also view the Organizational Chart.

Division of Information Technology

The Indian Health Service Office of Information Technology (OIT), Division of Information Technology (DIT) serves to develop and support various enterprise services including:

  • National Data Warehouse
  • Master Patient Index
  • Nationwide Health Information Network Gateway
DIT also contains teams that manage:
  • Software Development
  • Software Quality Assurance
  • Enterprise Architecture

The division is instrumental in ensuring compliance with various mandates and initiatives related to the exchange of health information utilizing established interoperability standards.

Software Development

The Software Development Team provides comprehensive software development lifecycle support for the Resource Patient Management System (RPMS). The RPMS is the health information system that supports the delivery of healthcare services at hundreds of federally and tribally operated hospital and clinic facilities across the country. The RPMS includes the Electronic Health Record, Practice Management and Health Information Exchange capabilities all of which are critical to the daily operations of these facilities as well as to regulatory compliance for the Agency as a whole. Failure of the system at any level can disrupt patient care and threaten essential revenue collection activities for the agency.

Services provided by the Software Development Team include:

  • Software application engineering, architectural and design services
  • Software requirements development and artifact consultation services
  • Software application development using multiple technologies (eg. M, Ensemble, .Net, Silverlight)
  • Application testing, user and technical documentation development
  • Software deployment coordination
  • Continuous application user support and training services
  • Software Standards and Convention Management
  • RPMS Database Administration and Management

Software Quality Assurance
The Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Team serves to ensure that all new software developed for the RPMS is compliant with programming standards, compatible with existing applications, runs error-free, and appropriately addresses the functional needs. SQA utilizes software development life cycle practices to ensure that RPMS meets set industry standards and that all software applications go through a beta testing and verification process before it's generally released. By performing in-depth testing in multiple modalities, SQA has been able to ensure applications being released are thoroughly tested and of the highest quality.

Enterprise Architecture
The function of the Enterprise Architecture (EA) program is to implement and manage the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework as mandated by the Office of Management and Budget. The EA program facilitates the alignment of the appropriate information technology (IT) resources with IHS business needs, with the overall goal of helping the IHS better execute its core health care delivery mission.

The EA program is responsible for assessing the current state of the IT capability, projecting the future state needed to meet ongoing and changing business needs, and developing a transition strategy to move the IT capability from the current to the future state. In addition, the EA program is responsible for IT strategic planning and other related IT planning activities, all of which is focused on the IT infrastructure providing the necessary support and technology to meet the business needs and requirements of the IHS health care programs.

National Patient Information Reporting System
The National Patient Information Reporting System (NPIRS) program develops and manages the National Data Warehouse, which provides a state-of-the-art, enterprise-wide data repository environment for the IHS. NPIRS produces various reports that are required by statute and regulation and provides a broad range of clinical and administrative information to managers at all levels of the Indian health system, allowing better management of individual patients, local facilities, and regional and national programs.

Division of Information Technology Operations

The Division of Information Technology Operations (DITO or Operations) manages technology deployed for use across the agency. DITO develops, supports, and maintains enterprise wide services in support of the IHS mission and is the building block of all technology serving the agency. DITO touches the lives of everyone who interacts digitally with the IHS. From the email sent/received to the web pages that provide information to the people you call for help, DITO brings IHS information technology services to you.

DITO is comprised of the following functional areas:

  • Email Team
  • Enterprise Technical Support (ETS)
  • Help Desk
  • Network Operations
  • Rockville Support
  • Web Services

Division of Information Security

The IHS Information Security Program mission is to provide an Agency-wide secure and trusted information technology environment in support of IHS' commitment, in partnership with American Indian and Alaska Native people, to raising their physical, mental, social, and spiritual health to the highest level.

The Indian Health Service (I H S) is responsible for maintaining an information security program that provides protection for information collected or maintained by or on behalf of the Agency; and information systems used or operated by the Agency or by a contractor of the Agency or other organization on behalf of the Agency.

Division of Program Management and Budget

The Division of Program Management and Budget (DPMB) is a small, dedicated and highly motivated group of professionals who provide internal support to other members of the OIT. We support program and budget in a variety of methods, primarily thru spend-plan and budget development, financial reports and analyses, and the Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) program.

We also provide support for the following:

  • Travel
  • Telecomm circuit program management
  • Property tracking and management
  • Acquisitions

Our official functional descriptions as published in the Federal Register follow.

  1. Advises the CIO on all business aspects of information resources and project management
  2. Develops information resource policies and procedures
  3. Develops the IHS IT budget and related documents
  4. Provides budget analyses and reports to the CIO
  5. Develops strategies for presenting the IHS IT budget to IHS, Tribal, and UIHP
  6. Provides technical analyses, guidance, and support for IHS capital planning and investment control activities
  7. Manages the IHS portfolio management tool
  8. Manages the activities of the IHS ITIRB in assessing, implementing and reviewing the Agency's information systems
  9. Develops project management policies and procedures
  10. Identifies alternatives among internal and external sources and recommends the best sources to supply information resource and technology products and services to IHS;
  11. Develops information resource and technology project governance structures to support effective project management;
  12. Provides project management and related support for IHS developed and acquired information resources and technology products and services;
  13. Provides contract management support for IT initiatives;
  14. Provides contract liaison services to appropriate acquisition authorities;
  15. Participates in cross-cutting issues and processes that involve IT; and
  16. Represents the IHS to Federal, Tribal, State, and other organizations."

Health Information Technology

Health Information Technology (HIT) provides the framework for comprehensive management of health information and its secure exchange between consumers, providers, government and quality entities, and insurers. HIT offers tools for improving quality, safety, and efficiency of the healthcare delivery system.

Indian Health Service, along with our Tribal and Urban Program partners, have developed and deployed a comprehensive suite of software applications to support the provision of quality services and the secure management of health information.