Introduction

Why a Playbook?

With the nationwide focus on value and quality in healthcare and incentives for clinicians to transform their practices and care delivery, investing in health information technology (health IT) is an imperative. Yet the question of how to get health IT to work efficiently and effectively in practice remains a challenge for many.

Making digital information resources available in an easy-to-navigate format is one way to address this question and ease the burden of implementing and using health IT. Which is why the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created the Health IT Playbook.

In this Playbook, you’ll find strategies, recommendations, and best practices — extensively researched and gleaned from a variety of clinical settings — to help you find the support you need. Taking these steps are intended to help reduce the pain of implementing and using health IT in your practice to advance care information and delivery.

Who should use this Playbook

The Health IT Playbook is a tool for administrators, physician practice owners, clinicians and practitioners, practice staff, and anyone else who wants to leverage health IT. Administrators and practice owners will find help to plan, select, and implement electronic health records and to meet the requirements for certified health IT. Clinicians and practitioners will learn how to optimize the safety and use of electronic health records. Practice staff will be better equipped to protect the security of patient information and ensure patient safety.

Whether you're part of a large health system or a small practice, this Playbook can help you make the most of health IT and improve healthcare. You'll find resources for every step of the process, from planning to implementation to reporting.

How to use this Playbook:

With the Playbook as your guide, you can:

• Select and optimize technology for your practice (Section 1 and Section 2)
• Share health information securely (Section 3)
• Use health IT solutions to address the opioid epidemic (Section 4)
• Engage patients in their care (Section 5)
• Reconfigure payments to incentivize value (Section 6)
• Ensure privacy and security of personal health information (Section 7)
• Deliver quality care that protects patient safety (Section 8)
• Identify health IT solutions that meet the needs of unique care settings and specialists (Section 9 and Section 11)
• Align health IT with quality measures and reporting (Section 8 and Section 10)
• Find technical support for transforming your practice (Section 12)

How this Playbook has evolved

This Playbook is not meant to be a static instruction manual — as technologies and policies evolve, so has the Playbook. Since launching the Playbook in September 2016, ONC continues to work with internal and external partners to identify relevant, timely, and actionable tools and content.

We adapted some tools and resources from ONC's Regional Extension Center (REC) program. Sixty-two RECs provided technical assistance and best practices for accelerating use of EHR technology in support of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) now called Promoting Interoperability (PI) as a part of the Quality Payment Program.

We also added content from ONC’s Beacon Community program. The 17 communities, selected from throughout the U.S., have made inroads in developing secure, private, and accurate EHR systems and health information exchanges.

Some tools within the Playbook reference Meaningful Use Stage 1 and Stage 2. While this content remains relevant in some cases, future Playbook updates and releases will adapt existing Meaningful Use-based tools and provide resources that support new alternative payment models (APMs) and value-based care.

Future updates and releases will also:

• Address the evolving health IT market
• Support ONC’s Strategic Plan (Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020)
• Achieve the goals outlined in the Interoperability Roadmap (Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap)

Help us improve the Playbook

Best practices start with clinicians, administrators, and users of health IT like yourself — so we encourage you to share your feedback and suggest solutions that have worked for your practice.

Strategy on Reducing Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs

Final Report Released

In the 21st Century Cures Act, Congress identified in Title IV, Section 4001 Assisting Doctors and Hospitals in Improving Quality Of Care For Patients, the importance of reducing regulatory and administrative burdens associated with the use of electronic health records (EHRs) and health information technology.

Specifically, Congress directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a goal, develop a strategy, and provide recommendations to reduce EHR-related burdens that affect care delivery.

The final report of the HHS Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs was released on February 21, 2020. It builds upon a draft report which was released in November 2018 and reflects input HHS has received through several wide-reaching listening sessions, written input, and stakeholder outreach.

Based on this input, the strategy outlines three overarching goals designed to reduce clinician burden:

1. Reduce the effort and time required to record health information in EHRs for clinicians;
2. Reduce the effort and time required to meet regulatory reporting requirements for clinicians, hospitals, and healthcare organizations; and
3. Improve the functionality and intuitiveness (ease of use) of EHRs.

Additional Information

• Visit the Health IT Buzz Blog to read more about the release of the Strategy
• Check out the press release of the Strategy
• View all public comments received on the draft Strategy