NOT-HS-16-009: AHRQ Announces Interest in Research on Health IT Safety

NOT-HS-16-009: AHRQ Announces Interest in Research on Health IT Safety

The following new item was posted on March 10, 2016: Notice: AHRQ Announces Interest in Research on Health IT. Purpose This Special Emphasis Notice (SEN) informs the research community that the Division of Health Information Technology (IT) at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) intends to support research regarding the safety of health IT systems. AHRQ’s Division of Health IT develops and disseminates evidence to inform policy and practice on how health information technology can improve the quality of health care. What is Health IT?  Health information technology (IT) is broadly defined as the use of information and communication technology in health care to support the PA-14-001 or population care or to support patient self-management. Health IT can support patient care related activities such as order communications, results reporting, care planning, and clinical or health documentation. Health IT applications or systems can use a variety of platforms, such as desktop computer applications, tablet computer applications, cellular phones, smart phones, touch screen kiosks, and others. Examples of health IT applications or systems include electronic health records (EHRs), electronic medical records (EMRs), telemedicine, computerized provider order entry (CPOE), computerized clinical decision support (CDS) systems, consumer health informatics applications (including personal health records [PHRs]), and electronic exchange of health information. Health IT applications or systems of interest to AHRQ under this SEN must support patient care related activities as described.