HHS Seeks Innovation Trackers

The Department of Health and Human Services needs help in monitoring health IT innovations and identifying which of those technologies have long-term potential to maximize the government's investment in more effective health-care delivery.

To that end, the department is rolling out the Initiative to Support Innovation Scanning, which will continuously update HHS agencies on the most promising health IT innovations, according to a recent notice to contractors. "It is imperative that programs and policies align with and take full advantage of technological advancement," it said.

The primary customer is expected to be the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which needs help in assessing the long-term benefits of various IT applications.

"An increasingly vibrant industry is developing a range of innovative technological approaches," HHS says in the notice. "Some of these will quickly disappear from the marketplace; others will precipitate modest changes; a few will have revolutionary impact. One thing in this field is certain: The technology of 2015 will be very different from that available today."

Updates will focus on innovations that help users to adopt health IT and achieve meaningful use, as well as programmatic efforts affected by technological advances, HHS says. Health-care providers must demonstrate meaningful use to qualify for federal incentives. Information will be exchanged among ONC, key subject-matter experts and industry. Data will be used to "shape policy and technology initiatives."

The notice does not specify the value or length of the contract.