The U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced a $989,000 contract with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to conduct a 12-month study to ensure that health IT will achieve its full potential for improving patient safety in healthcare.
The study will examine a comprehensive range of patient safety-related issues, including the prevention of healthcare IT-related errors and the rapid reporting of any patient safety issues related to healthcare IT. The IOM, headquartered in Washington, DC, is tasked with making recommendations concerning the potential effects of government policies and private-sector actions in maximizing safety and avoiding medical errors through healthcare IT.
Highlights of the study will include:
- Summarizing the existing knowledge of the effects of healthcare IT on patient safety
- Identifying ways to promote safety-enhancing features while protecting patients from any safety problems associated with healthcare IT
- Identifying ways to prevent healthcare IT-related patient safety problems before they occur
- Identifying approaches for surveillance and reporting activities for rapid detection and correction of patient safety problems
- Identifying potential roles of accrediting and certification organizations, patient safety organizations, professional societies, and trade associations
- Discussing potential roles for federal agencies including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Related Reading
HIMSS survey: Hospitals not ready to protect electronic records, November 12, 2009
FDA issues cybersecurity reminder, November 9, 2009
Imaging lands on lists of IOM research projects, July 2, 2009
Intrusion-detection testing finds network vulnerabilities, August 11, 2008
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