The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has launched a new tool for reporting complaints about certified EHR technology (CEHRT) and health IT.
Acting Deputy National Coordinator Jon White, MD, provided details about the online service on the federal agency’s blog Friday.
“ONC launched http://www.healthit.gov/healthitcomplaints to address these concerns and be the single point of entry for you to report problems or complaints about your health IT product,” he writes. “The new reporting mechanism will help us here at ONC better triage, track, route and respond to your health IT concerns or challenges.”
According to White, the new tool is the last resort for CEHRT-related complaints. Providers with complaints about their CEHRT should still begin by working with EHR vendors or developers:
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We know that as more and more providers – and individuals – are using health IT, they are bound to experience challenges with the technology. If you have a problem with your health IT, you should start by contacting the developer or vendor. If that doesn’t work and you think the issue relates to the product’s certified capability, then you should contact the ONC-Authorized Certification Body (ACB), which should be able to work with you and the developer to resolve most issues. But if the issue remains unresolved, please submit your issues to ONC.
Additionally, ONC has laid out five instances where providers should contact the federal agency:
• Your challenge appears to be related to health information blocking (when someone or an entity knowingly and unreasonably interferes with the exchange or use of health information).
• You are not able to share or receive health information.
• You are concerned about the usability of your EHR.
• The certified capabilities of your product are not performing as you expected or,
• You have concerns about the safety of your product.
ONC perceives its role to be a convener in jumpstarting conversations between providers and EHR vendors although provider complaints will play an important role in the federal agency’s interactions with Congress.
“Submitting your concerns to us also helps us better understand the extent and nature of potential problems so we can more accurately represent them to Congress and our federal partners and work with them to develop solutions,” adds White.
Insight into information blocking is one such area of Congressional interest which ONC aims to get a better grasp on.
Coincidentally, ONC last week terminated the EHR certifications for two CEHRT developed by Platinum Health Information Systems for “failure to respond and participate in routine surveillance requests” by ONC Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) InfoGard Laboratories Inc.