Reporting on the safe use of health information technology (health IT) – especially the use of electronic health records (EHRs) – continues to be a challenge to many healthcare providers. While health IT adoption has increased significantly (as of 2015, 96 percent of hospitals and 78 percent of office-based physicians had certified EHRs), usability and the ease-of-reporting concerns remain.

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Since the enactment of the HITECH Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the number of health care providers using an electronic health record (EHR) has continued to rise, helping to build the foundation for an interoperable learning health system.

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Improving and streamlining the testing and certification of health IT has long been a goal of ONC. To that end, on June 9th we published a notice in the Federal Register that reintroduced a flexibility included in the ONC Health IT Certification Program that allows the National Coordinator to consider test procedures, test tools, and test data developed by any person or entity for approved use.

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Electronic Clinical Measures Point to EHRs Potential to Monitor Blood Pressure Control
About 1 of 3 U.S. adults—67 million people—have high blood pressure, also called hypertension. High blood pressure increases the risk for a variety of diseases, including stroke, coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, heart and kidney failure, and atrial fibrillation. High blood pressure is also called the “silent killer” because it often has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people do not know they have it.

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