Project HealthDesign Provides Input on Health IT Policies

BY PATRICIA FLATLEY BRENNAN, PHD, RN, Project Health Design National Program Director

Since health reform passed almost two years ago, we’ve seen the health care system begin to change quite a bit. The push for better uses of health IT has brought about many proposed rules and programs, and federal agencies have requested public input on many of these proposals.

Because Project HealthDesign has always included multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, clinicians, and patients who are helping to lay the foundation for a patient-centered health IT system, we’ve seized these opportunities to share our unique insights by commenting on several proposed policies. In the process, we’ve been able to share our thoughts about promising practices for collecting patient-generated data and incorporating it into the clinical care process.

In 2011, Project HealthDesign provided feedback on seven proposed policies. These ranged from applauding the HHS Proposed Rule on Patient Access to Lab Reports, which would allow patients to become more engaged with their health data, to calling for better distinctions between mobile apps and mobile medical apps under the FDA Mobile Medical Application Guidance. Working together to help refine these types of policy proposals is even more critical now as we enter a new era of widespread adoption and use of health IT.

Read Project HealthDesign’s policy comments, watch “How Clinicians Can Help Guide Federal Conversations About Health IT,” or visit the Project HealthDesign website to learn more.

You can also check out Dr. Roger Luckmann's post on KevinMD.com about how Project HealthDesign is helping people with chronic diseases manage pain.