Despite evidence touting the benefits of health IT, only 25% of physician offices and 15% of hospitals take advantage of electronic health records (EHRs), according to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which recently published its Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2011-2015.
Originally published in 2008, the plan was updated to reflect the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the Affordable Care Act. The current version covers how ONC will work collaboratively with its federal partners and the private sector to "usher in a new era of meaningful use that will allow the health care system to harness the power of health IT to bring information to bear in new ways to improve care and transform the health care system."
“Meaningful use provides an opportunity to bring electronic health information to life in the care of patients and power an information-driven health care system that is capable of never before imagined levels of performance,” said David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
Comments, which must be submitted via the Federal Health IT Buzz Blog, will be accepted through 11:59 PM (Eastern) on April 22.
