When Health IT Meets Bugs Bunny

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is looking to educate the public about health IT issues as simply as possible. That simple avenue might just be a cartoon.

HHS, via the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), is looking for a contractor to produce one or two video animations no longer than 10 minutes in length to help educate the public about the value of health IT and how technologies such as electronic health records will change how the public interacts with healthcare organizations. At least one video must be in "plain language," as defined by federal contracting standards.

"The animation will be used, along with other materials, to help engage and inform the public about health IT, and to build public support and demand for the greater use of health IT tools and services to engage patients and involve them more fully in their own health and healthcare," according to the solicitation notice.

"Consumers and patients are the ultimate beneficiaries of health IT initiatives for providers, as well as the primary decision makers with regard to management of their own health and health care, both of which can benefit significantly from health IT tools and services," the notice said. "As ONC carries out its mission, there is a need to explain to the public what it is doing and to link conceptually the changes in the traditional health system that ONC is driving and the growing ecosystem of consumer health activities that has developed largely independently. The average person needs to know what changes are taking place on a national level, and what they will mean for him or her personally."

HHS said that a recent Markle Foundation survey suggested that just 14% of the public was familiar with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the portion of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--the Obama administration's stimulus legislation--that relates to health IT. HITECH is funding the $27 billion "meaningful use" incentive program to encourage hospitals and physicians to adopt EHRs, as well as related public outreach efforts such as this video project.

HHS will disseminate the finished product online and in ONC public presentations. The animation will be part of an eight-month campaign, according to the solicitation. Potential vendors have until July 26 to respond. (A posting on the Federal Business Opportunities website suggests that HHS has canceled the offer, but Gerald Smart, the HHS lead on this contract, said that registered federal contractors can find the solicitation on the U.S. General Services Administration website.)

Will the animated format work? "We do find [animation] to be an effective tool," said Tori Joseph, social media outreach coordinator for health video site icyou.

While icyou doesn't actually produce any animations, Joseph told InformationWeek Healthcare that several users have posted cartoon-type videos explaining various medical procedures and conditions to adults and children alike." I definitely think it's a good way to explain some things," Joseph said.

"I think it's an interesting project if it's done correctly," said Brad Dodge, president of Dodge Communications, a Roswell, Ga.-based marketing firm specializing in health IT. Dodge said that health IT is a "really complex" area, and that it might make sense to incorporate animation into an educational program.

"You do need to simplify the message so people can understand," Dodge said.

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