New This Week on HealthIT.gov

New This Week on HealthIT.gov

In This Issue:

• Standards development
• RECs driving Meaningful Use 
• Beacon Learning Guide 
• Workforce development
• Crowd sourcing app challenge 
• Apps4Tots Health Challenge 
• Air quality sensor
• On the radio 

Standards Development

As we wind down from Health Datapalooza IV week, we wanted to point out a couple of other big announcements we made this week – including a handful of new challenges – and in particular a blog post by our Chief Scientist, Dr. Doug Fridsma (@Fridsma), about a new resource to help support Health IT standards implementation by EHR developers.

Over the past two years, ONC has been actively engaged with the Health IT community on the development of standards and harmonization efforts supporting interoperability. While we have worked closely with the community on this critical work, our "boots on the ground" implementers have been seeking guidance on utilizing these standards and testing for compliance. This week's blog from Dr. Fridsma highlights the Standards Implementation & Testing Platform that ONC has developed to support the community of implementers. This online resource features a knowledge base, discussion forums, an issue tracker and more!

RECs driving Meaningful Use

A blog post that is getting some attention comes from our Regional Extension Center and OPAS! (Office of Provider Adoption and Support) teams. Authored by Kimberly Lynch (@kllynch7), director of the REC program, and Mat Kendall (@matkendall), the OPAS! chief, it explains how RECs are driving meaningful use and providing crucial hands-on support to doctors, nurses, hospitals and clinics across the country.

Beacon Learning Guide

ONC’s Beacon team recently completed the first Beacon Nation Learning Guide, “Improve Hospital Transitions and Chronic Disease Care Management Using Admission, Discharge, and Transfer-based Alerts.” We have posted video of National Coordinator Mostashari making the announcement.

The Learning Guide is the first in a series of six that are converting the experiences and lessons learned from our Beacon Communities into actionable information about specific technology-enabled solutions that can be adapted for use by interested communities. It can be found in its entirety on the Beacon Nation website.

The Beacon Nation project, funded by the Hawai‘i Island Beacon Community, promotes innovation in health IT by gathering and disseminating lessons learned from the 17 Beacon Communities. Over the past three years, the Beacon Communities have been building and strengthening Health IT infrastructure, testing innovative approaches, and making strides toward better care, better health, and lower costs.

Workforce development

Did you know the ONC-funded Health IT Workforce Development Program provides resources to cultivate Health IT professionals? Health IT Professionals are in demand to help providers implement electronic health records to improve health care quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Learn more about the ONC Workforce Development Program and read their success stories.

To view other NLC resources, visit the EHR implementation lifecycle steps.

Crowd sourcing app challenge

Another exciting app challenge with a crowd sourcing twist is winding up today. We asked you to submit your cool ideas to help us learn how you want to use your Blue Button data. We have been blown away by all the interest in this challenge; as of today we have received 52 ideas and the leading one already has 295 votes. The second most popular idea has 251 votes, so keep your ideas and your votes coming. The deadline to vote is Tuesday, but we hear you want more time.  Due to overwhelming popular demand, we've decided to extend the idea submission and voting to Friday, June 14.

“The responses and the feedback that we’ve received during the crowd sourcing portion of this challenge have been overwhelming,” Adam Wong (@adamkwong), the manager of ONC's prize challenge program, said. “The most important goal is hearing from consumers about how they can use their health data to address their most pressing needs,” Wong said.

Apps4Tots Health Challenge

ONC announced earlier this week the winners of the Apps4Tots Health Challenge. They are: myfamily, TotBytes and Super Mommy’O. The idea was to help parents better manage the nutrition and physical activity of their little ones. Congratulations to the winners!

Air quality sensor

Check out this video about the latest in wearable computing and a winner of the My Health. My Air challenge sponsored by NIH, ONC and EPA. The Conscious Clothing team focused on consumers’ interest in the air they breathe and produced a product that meets that need.

On the radio

In case you missed it, ONC chief Farzad Mostashari was on NPR’s Tech Tuesday radio show with Kojo Nnamdi talking about how you can be a savvy consumer. We have posted a link to the program on the HealthIT.gov Newsroom.