AHRQ Seeks Better Consumer Health Tools

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality intends to interview 15 experts to learn from other industries how best to design consumer health information technologies.

"Despite the potential power of consumer health I.T., consumers have not adopted these technologies to the same degree that they have adopted technology products marketed from other consumer product industries," AHRQ says in a notice to be published Jan. 27 in the Federal Register. "One reason for slow adoption is that the marketplace lacks robust tools that allow for the complexity and diversity of personal health information management practices."

The success of consumer-facing digital tools in other industries "offers much to be learned and applied to the health care field," according to the agency.

Consequently, AHRQ hopes that recommendations from experts in other industries will aid vendors that design, develop and market consumer health I.T. products. The notice is available here.

--Joseph Goedert