ONC to create health IT dashboard

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will create an online dashboard that it will use as a tool to evaluate and improve the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) through its grants to states and other assistance.

The data sets that ONC is developing and will share with partners will enable it to assess how well grantees, such as the 62 regional health IT extension centers, are doing compared with each other, validate their progress reports and track performance improvements so they can receive payment. ONC will also make publicly available de-identified data from the records, such as health IT adoption estimates at the state and national level, according to ONC in a Dec. 21 announcement in a preview section of the Federal Register. Federal agencies must publish a notice when they are creating a new system of records with information that is covered by the Privacy Act and how they plan to safeguard it. The public can comment on the new data system for 30 days. Hospitals, physicians, community colleges and state-designated organizations have received ONC grants and assistance with EHR deployment.