ONC plans consumer health IT campaign

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT will widen its efforts in mid-September to bring consumers into its orbit of tools and outreach with a campaign to get the public more involved in their health and health care.

ONC will develop activities to explain the value of health IT tools, such as electronic health records (EHRs), personal health records (PHRs) and mobile phone applications.

ONC plans to include a variety of organizations that touch consumers to participate in the effort and to seek their ideas for how to involve patients, according to Lygeia Ricciardi, ONC’s senior policy advisor for consumer e-health, at an Aug. 9 meeting of the Consumer Consortium on eHealth.