Ever have a complaint about the inability to share electronic health information and didn’t know where to turn? Have you ever needed to tell someone about your concerns with your certified health IT product, such as an electronic health record (EHR) and didn’t know where to go?

Today, ONC launched 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. The new complaint tool will help us ensure your complaint or concern finds its way to the appropriate person at ONC or elsewhere in the federal government.

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 one of the ONC-Authorized Certification Bodies (ACB), which should be able to work with you and the developer to resolve most issues. EHRs must be certified by an ONC-ACB before providers may use them to achieve meaningful use under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. If the issue remains unresolved, please submit your issues to ONC.

You should contact ONC if:

• 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.

While we may not always have the ability to step in and fix the problem, we may be able to help in others ways, such as beginning a dialogue between you and your vendor/developer. Submitting your concerns 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.

Every comment we receive at www.HealthIT.gov/healthitcomplaints will be reviewed by ONC staff. The centralized receipt and review of these inquiries will enable broader awareness and facilitate coordination that can help us respond in a timely, effective way. We will also be coordinating with our colleagues at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on complaints they receive.

Our goal is a more centralized and streamlined customer service process that will help us aid our understanding of key challenges—including potential ways to address information blocking and improve the security, safety, and usability of health IT. If you do need to reach us at www.HealthIT.gov/healthitcomplaints, we will make every effort to work with you to help address your concerns.