“The new reporting mechanism will help us here at ONC better triage, track, route and respond to your health IT concerns or challenges,” wrote Jon White, MD, acting deputy national coordinator, in an ONC blog post announcing the tool. “The new complaint tool will help us ensure your complaint or concern finds its way to the appropriate person at ONC or elsewhere in the federal government.”
The tool is meant to be used once all other options to resolve an issue have been exhausted, according to Dr. White. He says providers should first turn to vendors and developers if experiencing a problem with health IT. If that doesn’t work and the issue is believed to be related to the product’s certified capability, providers should then turn to the ONC-authorized certification body. If providers still are unable to solve the issue, then they can turn to the new ONC tool.
Dr. White outlined five scenarios in which providers should contact ONC with a complaint:
1. If the issue appears to be related to health information blocking
2. If providers are unable to share or receive health information
3. If providers are concerned about the usability of their EHR
4. If the certified capabilities are underperforming
5. If providers are concerned about the safety of the product
According to Dr. White’s blog, every submitted complaint will be reviewed and receive a response from ONC.
“While we may not always have the ability to step in and fix the problem, we may be able to help in other ways, such as beginning a dialogue between you and your vendor/developer,” Dr. White wrote.
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