Every day, clinicians work tirelessly to provide the best possible care for their patients. Clinicians and other health care providers like hospitals are increasingly using health information technology (health IT) such as electronic health records (EHRs), and a growing body of evidence shows health IT can help them make care safer. However, new technology can pose challenges and risks. At the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC),

With the rapid adoption of certified electronic health records (EHRs) and health information technology (health IT) tools, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has been working to help address concerns about the safe use of these tools, including issuing legislative proposals to better foster the flow of health information.

Safety is and always has been a top priority at ONC. We have incorporated safety into the ONC Health IT Certification Program [PDF-257KB] and our guiding documents, the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2015 – 2020 [PDF-1.2MB] and Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap.  More specifically, ONC created a series of tools to help with the safe use of health IT, including a guide to e-prescribing and nine self-assessment protocols (called SAFER guides) that identify recommended practices to optimize the safety and safe use of electronic health records (EHRs).