This Week's News on HealthIT.gov

• Crowdsourcing for Blue Button
• Long-Term & Post-Acute Care and Health IT
• Getting technical for Stage 2
• More Meaningful Use Resources
• Reporting toolkit updates
• AHRQ’s new guide to using health information exchanges in primary care
• Share with your friends
• Happy Father’s Day

Crowdsourcing for Blue Button

Happy Friday! Today is the deadline to submit your reasons for wanting access to your health information and what tools and applications will help you better use that information. That’s right – this is the last day to respond to the Blue Button Co-Design Challenge. Dr. Rebecca Mitchell Coelius (@RebeccaCoelius), our Chief Strategist for Innovation, posted a blog that explains the project – the first time we’ve crowdsourced ideas for a challenge and she is blown away by the response. So if you haven’t submitted your vote, do it now!

Long-Term & Post-Acute Care and Health IT

We know that Health IT provides an opportunity for the safe and timely exchange of health information across care settings to support patient-centered care, particularly during transitions of care – the “hand off.”  While more and more physicians are adopting health IT systems, Meaningful Use Stage 2 takes an important first step in supporting the needs of persons who receive LTPAC services by requiring eligible providers to send care summaries during transitions of care, which may include LTPAC providers. As part of our education and information efforts, we have launched a new page on www.HealthIT.gov that will house resources where you can learn about LTPAC and Health IT.

Getting technical for Stage 2

We posted two new technical resources for Meaningful Use Stage 2 implementers and vendors. These resources are part of a growing toolkit with more than 10 resources to help with technical aspects of VDT, TOC and CCDA. Some of these are presentations, others are recorded sessions – we believe that all provide great information for vendors and implementers.

One of the new resources is a presentation on SOAP + XDR/XDM that provides both basic and very detailed technical information for anyone considering using the standard as an edge protocol with Direct. We have also added a presentation on cross vendor exchange, which provides information to vendors on how they can support customers and providers who will need to demonstrate cross vendor exchange capability for the Meaningful Use Transitions of Care Measure #3.

More Meaningful Use Resources

It’s all about achieving Meaningful Use this week.  We have the updates and information you need for achieving Meaningful Use Stage 1 AND Stage 2.

• Do you know what updates have been made to Meaningful Use Stage 1?  Learn about the basics and also the changes across all the core and menu measures on the Meaningful Use Stage 1 dashboard.

Ready to achieve Meaningful Use Stage 2?  See the new Meaningful Use Stage 2 dashboard.

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

Reporting toolkit updates

We have updated our ARRA Recipient Reporting toolkit to reflect the July 2013 reporting period. The toolkit outlines the timelines for the July 2013 reporting period for ONC grantees and includes frequently-asked-questions, guidance to help prepare final ARRA reports, and other information to help grantees submit accurate and timely quarterly ARRA reports. 

AHRQ’s new guide to using health information exchanges in primary care

Our colleagues at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) posted a new framework to help primary care practices connect to regional health information exchanges. Regional Health eDecisions: A Guide to Connecting Health Information Exchange in Primary Care lays out a blueprint  to help a practice connect its EHR to a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO), offers tips to engage staff buy-in, addresses technical issues, and helps to make sure that data acquired from information exchange can be accessed by clinicians as part of their regular workflows. Using practical insights from Oklahoma Physicians Resource/Research Network, the guide provides a framework for using information from RHIOs to help with clinical decision making and the delivery of preventive services.

After you download the guide, make sure you plan to take part in AHRQ’s August 6 webinar. You can register by clicking this link.

Share with your friends

Like the tips and tools you get via your subscription to ONC's listserv? Pass along this link to others and help them join and benefit from information about healthier outcomes.

Happy Father’s Day

Lastly, Happy Father's Day as ONC honors Men's Health Month. Family relationships matter most in health and are key to informing loved ones about genetic conditions.

Ask your provider to review your family health history to help you make more informed health decisions at your next doctor's visit.