Latest Updates from ONC on HealthIT.gov

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released a new white paper giving details on Meaningful Use Core Measure 3: Maintain Problem List. The white paper will help providers:

• Learn how the problem list can be leveraged to achieve better individual patient care and population management
• Understand the opportunities and barriers for a standardized problem list in the EHR
• Learn how to developing processes to standardize problem list maintenance

You can also read the Washington and Idaho Regional Extension Center’s (WIREC) white paper on Standardizing the Problem List in the Ambulatory EHR to Improve Patient Care.

The ONC has also released a new brief on Health IT in long-term and post-acute care. This brief highlights promising ways in which long-term post-acute care providers are using health IT and information exchange to support care coordination, remote monitoring and quality improvement. It also gives a comprehensive overview of health IT-enabled care transformation opportunities for LTPAC providers under the Affordable Care Act. Finally it offer some practical suggestions and resources for providers as they consider opportunities and adopt health IT and exchange information to improve care delivery and population health while reducing costs.

More ONC Updates

On April 1 the ONC’s Competency Exam Grant ends, and with it, the opportunity to take the exam for free and vouchers for the free exams will no longer be accepted. In the future there will be a fee for testing. As hospitals and other healthcare affiliates convert to electronic health records, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a shortfall over the next five years of about 50,000 qualified health IT workers.A recent PWC study found that 62 percent of top healthcare executives worry about the availability of workers with HIT skills. Check out the ONC’s Workforce Development Program resources at HealthIT.gov and details of their Health IT Professional (HITPRO) exams.

Are you a clinician ready to start shopping for an EHR? There are a number of resources on healthIT.gov that can help including  a six step process for implementing an EHR.

If you are looking for some additional resources to help narrow down EHR choices, you may also want to check out Software Advice’s free EHR Buyer Guide.