Dive Brief:
- The Certified Technology Comparison Task Force's co-chairs Mayo Clinic CIO Cris Ross and Director of the Physician Quality Measures Development Anita Somplasky, provided recommendations for a national health IT comparison tool to assist physicians in choosing EHRs.
- Somplasky said the tool's ideal attributes should: Filter choices for target audiences and across multiple categories; be accessible for all technical abilities and provide cost transparency; compare products for various topics; include subjective and objective information on product use; and include information from vendors, independent third parties, and peer reviews.
- The joint committee voted to send the recommendations on to the ONC.
Dive Insight:
The new comparison tool will serve to upgrade the Certified Health IT Product List kept by the ONC, according to iHealthBeat. Physicians provided feedback to the task force earlier this month on how to create the IT comparison tool.
Somplasky said at the meeting although there are existing tools, "most tools lack an empirical source for comparison for quality reporting, objective usability information, comparative product costs and information about products' ability to integrate with other health IT."
Ross suggested a list of things ONC should do regarding a comparison tool, ranging from updating the availability of comparison tools for providers to developing recommendations for the private sector's comments. Ross also said ONC should not endorse comparison tool vendors, create and maintain a comparison tool, nor use the Certified Health IT Product List as a comparison tool.
The task force also suggested objective data regarding non-certified IT should be available for comparative reasons, and comparison tools should be flexible to meet the changing needs of healthcare reform.