Tracking Electronic Health Record Adoption and Capturing Related Insights in U.S. Hospitals

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology funds cooperative agreements and grants tracking electronic health record adoption and use among U.S. physicians and hospitals under CFDA 93.851, with the most recent award issued on September 20, 2024.

The program supports survey-based measurement and research capturing EHR adoption rates, interoperability, physician satisfaction, clinical burden, and the effects of federal health IT policy on care delivery. Recent funded work includes OPUS-HIT, an annual survey of family medicine physicians tracking EHR satisfaction and interoperability impacts, and RECONCIEVE HIT, which gathers data from both primary care and specialist office-based physicians on the implementation and unintended consequences of federal health IT policies. Earlier awards funded hospital-level EHR adoption tracking through the American Hospital Association's annual survey.

The program is predominantly Cooperative Agreements (75% of awards), with a smaller share of Project Grants. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has issued three of four total awards for $3.2 million in federal dollars obligated; the HHS Immediate Office of the Secretary issued one award for $204 thousand. Combined federal obligated dollars total $3.4 million across the portfolio.

Grant awards have been sparse but persistent, with one award issued in each of 2015, 2017, 2020, and 2024. Recent award magnitudes range from $204 thousand to $1.725 million. The most recent award, a $800 thousand cooperative agreement to the American Board of Family Medicine and UCSF's Center for Clinical Informatics and Improvement Research, runs through September 2029 and will continue OPUS-HIT annual surveys.

The most recent posted opportunity, NAP-AX-24-001, closed on July 22, 2024. It solicited cooperative agreements to measure office-based physicians' use of interoperable health IT, experience with health IT systems, and policy impacts. Eligible applicants included nonprofit organizations, tribal governments, educational institutions, and for-profit organizations. No opportunities currently appear open.