ONC Logo

Old ONC Logo, Slogan

The Look, the Feel, the Slogan
America will be getting a new look at Health IT initiatives with a rollout of the new look and feel of ONC’s Web site which started its latest revisions August 25, 2010 and continues today.

“Connecting America for Better Health: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology” with a new patriotic logo provides new name and look of the ONC’s Web site heading. The new logo of red, white, and blue sweep toward gold star replaces the previous top Web banner background of partial caduceus medical symbol. “The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology” with emphasis on “Health Information Technology” replaces “Health Information Technology” as the name of the Web site. The new slogan “Connecting America for Better Health” replaces Health Information Technology “For the Future of Health and Care.” In addition to the search box, the new top banner offers links to “Get email updates” and “Follow us on Twitter,” both options to learn about changes on ONC site almost as fast as you can learn about them on e-Healthcare Marketing. (Yes, many times ONC team is faster these days than e-Healthcare Marketing.)

ONC Web 2.0

Top Features
A new central rolling box highlights key areas of interest: Meaningful Use, Certification Program, Privacy and Security, HITECH Programs, On the Frontlines of Health Information Technology, and Federal Advisory Committees. And to the right, a feature box currently promotes “Final Rules Support Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records,” with links to information on meaningful use and standards and certification.

ONC Features

What’s New
The right column of the primary content area of the new layout offers the most important new content feature: “What’s New.” It will let those of us who are not constantly on Twitter to learn about major new content or changes ONC is publishing on its Web site. Section starts off today with “Creating Skilled Health IT Specialists,” which links to the new post on ONC’s Health IT Buzz blog about new courses offered by the consortium of community colleges.

The new SHARP (Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects) page is noted. Two new Advisory Committes workgroups are pointed out–Quality Measures and Governance–with a link to September FACA meetings calendar. Of course, there is another ”Meaningful Use” resources link and  a “Stories from the Road” link that shares EHR success stories.

For the Public
The left column in the main content area focuses on the value of Health IT for consumers and the healthcare community with “Why Health IT?,” “Improving Patient Care” and “Improving Our Nation’s Health Care System.”

ONC: the “Learning Web Site,” the “Learning Agency”
Just as the ONC–reinvigorated  by direction, money and leadership promulgated by the HITECH Act–envisions a “Learning Healthcare System,” ONC’s Web site is a ”learning Web site,” growing and continuously being modified and reconfigured  to keep up with its trajectory of coordinated healthcare IT programs and initiatives on the federal, state and community levels. ONC’s Web site mirrors the ” Learning Agency” approach taken by the Office of the National Coordinator  in conjunction with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)  and a range of  HHS agencies and others. Even CMS’s less sexy Web site, is becoming more obviously agile with its “Official Web Site for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.”

Read ONC Communications Director Peter Garrett’s blog post on Health IT Buzz blog, or as republished on e-Healthcare Marketing, for the story behind “A Unified Identity for Health IT.”

ONC: http://healthit.hhs.gov
CMS EHR Incentive Programs:  
http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms