The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has introduced its online "Health IT Playbook," an tool to assist doctors and hospitals select EHRs as well as inform them about implementation, design, security and patient engagement.

The Health IT Playbook includes topics on workflow assistance in both practical and technical settings using many different tools. The Playbook also includes an EHR contact guide, interactive map for federal funding and security risk assessment tool to help comply with the HIPAA's security rules.

"Because we know that the journey of health IT can be complex and at times overwhelming, we designed the new Playbook to be accessible to even the busiest providers,” wrote Thomas A. Mason, MD, ONC CMO, and Lauren Richie, MA, director of ONC’s Office of Programs and Engagement, in a recent blog post. “Much of the design of the new Playbook is based on feedback and input gathered from practicing physicians, professional medical societies, federal partners and recommendations made by the Consumer Task Force of the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees.”