If you were preoccupied last week with the seasonal imperative to give gifts, you may have missed an announcement, put out by the Office of the National Coordinator, that its gifts come with strings attached.
ONC announced in the Federal Register that it would create databases to track, monitor and assess the performance of individuals who receive grants intended to promote development of an interoperable system for sharing health information.
The "ONC Health IT Dashboard" will assess the progress of providers who receive incentive funds to spur the "meaningful use" of electronic health records as well as providers who participate in other health IT programs, including regional extension centers.
The program will take effect within 30 days, according to the announcement.
John Pulley
John Pulley has written the Health IT Update blog since May 2011. Prior to becoming a regular contributor to Nextgov, he covered technology for Federal Computer Week and Government Health IT magazines. He has written about government for Federal Times and Air Force Times, as well. Pulley has worked in journalism for more than 20 years. He began his career covering local government for regional newspapers. In addition, he served as a writer and senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education for seven years. In 2006, he founded The Pulley Group, an editorial services agency.
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