ONC Launches Health IT Playbook

Resource aimed at helping docs best use health IT

As healthcare providers work to implement electronic health records (EHR), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has developed a resource aimed at helping them. The Health IT Playbook, which the ONC is launching today, is aimed at helping solo providers, and those in small and medium-sized practices, get the most out of their health information technology, Thomas Mason, MD, ONC's chief medical officer, told MedPage Today in an exclusive interview.

Over the years, the ONC had implemented tools such as its Beacon Community Program and regional extension centers to help doctors get started with EHR and other health information technology. "We were in the process of aggregating and reviewing all of the content we'd put together ... and we thought it would be great to put this together in a way that was user-friendly and intuitive," Mason said in the phone interview, at which a public relations person was present.

The playbook contains chapters on a wide variety of IT-related topics, including EHR, value-based care, and patient engagement. "If a practice administrator does have time, [he or she might want] to read through the entire playbook, and then they can print it out and use it as a resource -- or for the busy practicing physician, they can drill down to a specific subtopic area," Mason said. Video links, resource lists, and sample healthcare data to give to a prospective EHR vendor are also included...