CHICAGO – September 15, 2022 – Seven leading healthcare organizations today announced the creation of the Health IT End-Users Alliance, a group focused on ensuring that policy and standards development activities reflect the complex clinical and operational challenges facing healthcare technology users. Founding members of the Alliance include: the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Health Information Management Association, the American Medical Association, AMGA, the Medical Group Management Association, and OCHIN.

The Alliance will advance end-user perspectives in health IT policy and standards development and provide a collective voice to move beyond end-user involvement to end-user leadership. By working together, we will establish a set of priorities for how technology should support clinical care and operations.  

Front-line healthcare providers and organizations have a critical role to play in informing both standards development and policy. While standards organizations and technology companies solicit end-user input into their processes, it can be challenging for those on the front lines to participate, given the highly technical nature of the discussions and the focus on specific use cases. At a policy level, sharing the end-user perspective can create better alignment across the many regulatory requirements that govern the use of health IT. The Alliance seeks to reorient the conversation to start with the needs of the patient and their care team.

Lauren Riplinger, AHIMA vice president of policy and government affairs, said that while advancements in the use of information technology have improved clinical care and operations in health systems, provider and patient needs tend to be less prominent in setting policy priorities and developing standards to support technical solutions, leading to implementation challenges.

“I’m excited to work with the Health IT End-Users Alliance to advance end-user perspectives for how technology should support clinical care and operations,” Riplinger said. “I believe our consensus statement on real world-testing will be of interest to policymakers, standards developers, and technology companies and inform new technology and policies that will improve care without adding to provider burden.”

The Alliance today released a consensus statement on the importance of robust real-world testing before standards are solidified and mandated by public policy.

Here is what leaders of the Alliance member organizations said about the founding of the Alliance:

“The American College of Physicians believes that for health IT to deliver on the potential that it has to improve health care for both patients and physicians, it must be developed keeping in mind the needs of physicians and other end users who put the technology into practice. All too often, health IT policies, regulations, and the technology itself fail to reflect the real-world experiences of physicians and other health care professionals. We are glad to join in founding the Health IT End-Users Alliance and in releasing this consensus statement affirming the importance of real-world testing by end-users of health IT before it is put into widespread use.” Ryan D. Mire, MD, FACP, President, American College of Physicians

“It’s important that health IT recognizes and supports the complexities of care delivery models and practice workflows,” said AMGA President and CEO Jerry Penso, M.D., M.B.A. “The Health IT End-Users Alliance will leverage providers’ experience to help shape the health IT regulatory landscape so it reflects those complexities and meets needs of providers and patients.”

“Medical group practices are at the forefront of implementing new HIT solutions as healthcare becomes increasingly integrated and patient-focused. Representing over 15,000 practices across the country, MGMA looks forward to sharing its unique end-user perspective so policymakers and key HIT stakeholders can consider the clinical and operational needs of a diverse provider ecosystem. We are honored to partner with these important organizations in forming the Alliance so we may work collectively to simplify our healthcare system and enhance patient care through new HIT solutions.” Anders Gilberg, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Medical Group Management Association

“OCHIN is pleased to join our partner organizations in this vital work to build more connected care communities and drive inclusive health care innovation,” said Jennifer Stoll, executive vice president of external affairs at OCHIN. “The consensus statement released today highlights the importance of ensuring the voices of providers and patients from rural and underserved communities are included at all stages of the standards development and testing process.” Jennifer Stoll, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, OCHIN

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About Health IT End Users Alliance

The Health IT End Users Alliance brings together health information professionals, physicians, hospitals, and other front-line health care providers and organizations that use health IT in the provision of care to advance end-user perspectives in health IT policy and standards development, and to provide a collective voice to move beyond end-user involvement to end-user leadership.