Briefs
ONC Data Brief: Adoption of EHRs Increasing [PDF - 555 KB]
The trend in adoption of EHR systems by non-federal acute care hospitals has been steadily increasing since 2008. From 2010 to 2011, EHR adoption sharply increased from 19% to 35%, an increase of 82%. Since 2009, hospital adoption of at least Basic and Comprehensive EHR systems has more than doubled.
This brief describes trends in adoption of EHR systems among non-federal acute care hospitals from 2008 to 2011, including tracking the intent of hospitals to attest to Meaningful Use of EHRs and receive payments through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Incentive Programs.
ONC Data Brief 2: Job Postings [PDF - 307 KB]
This brief examines trends in Health IT jobs using online job postings as a proxy for labor demand. Since passage of HITECH in 2009, the number of online Health IT job postings has tripled, rising from 4,850 per month to 14,512 per month. The number of companies with online postings for Health IT jobs has nearly doubled, increasing by 94%. Since 2009, Health IT job postings have grown much faster than Healthcare jobs and All jobs. By February 2012, online postings for Health IT jobs accounted for 3.9% of healthcare jobs and 0.89% of all jobs.
ONC Data Brief 3: Training Health IT Professionals [PDF - 529 KB]
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 directed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to train healthcare and information technology students to ensure the rapid and effective utilization and development of health information technology. This brief describes trends in program attainment and student demographics for the Community College Consortia to Educate Health IT Professionals Program ("Community College Consortia"), a part of ONC's Health IT Workforce Development Program.
Since its launch in September 2010, the Community College Consortia Program has rapidly trained more than 12,000 professionals nationwide. The majority of students are mid-career healthcare or IT professionals with prior experience in fields outside health IT. Student demographics included significant minority and rural representation. By leveraging distance learning platforms, the program has trained students in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Beacon Communities Present Early Findings [PDF - 284 KB]
Eight Beacon Communities presented publication concepts at a Beacon Evidence and Innovation Network Workshop on February 14, 2012. The publication concepts showcase early findings and promising practices learned by the Beacon Communities.
Individuals' Access to Their Own Health Information [PDF - 580 KB]
This brief reviews how legislative milestones and federal and private industry efforts have been major driving forces to realizing the goal of individuals having access to electronic copies of their health information.
The Beacon Community Program: Three Pillars of Pursuit [PDF - 625 KB]
The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program is part of the national effort to modernize health care through health IT, demonstrating how health IT investments advance the vision of patient-centered care, while achieving the three-part aim of better health and better care at lower cost. This policy brief introduces the Three Pillars of the Beacon Community Program and provides an early look at the activities of the 17 Beacon Communities, including their success, challenges, lessons learned, and the role health IT can play in improving health and health care.
This brief examines the relationship between Beacon Communities and EHR vendors. As Beacon Communities work on patient information exchange, it has been found that EHR vendors are an important partner in achieving exchange of data.
