The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has selected the winning designs of printed health records to help patients better understand and use their electronic health records (EHRs).

The designs and formats were a response to an ONC challenge contest to make EHRs valuable to patients and their families. Patients who are engaged in their healthcare treatments have better outcomes, according to Farzad Mostashari, MD, the national health IT coordinator.

[See also: EMR usability seen lacking.]

“The design challenge winners all proposed patient-friendly designs that will help to translate technical health information into easy-to-understand information that will help patients work closely with their doctors to manage their care,” he said in a Jan. 15 announcement.

Winners of the Health Design Challenge, which had more than 230 entries submitted, include:
Best Overall Design – “Nightingale” - Amy Guterman, Stephen Menton, Defne Civelekoglu, Kunal Bhat, Amy Seng, and Justin Rheinfrank from gravitytank in Chicago, Ill.

• Best Medication Section – “M.ed” - Josh Hemsley from Orange County, Calif., presented a modern and intuitive design to help patients better understand how to properly adhere to their medication
• Best Medical/Problem History – “Grouping by Time” – Mathew Sanders from Brooklyn, N.Y., aimed to provide more context by listing items in chronological order instead of grouping by functional type so cause and effect can be seen
• Best Lab Summaries – “Health Summary” – Mike Parker, Dan McGorry, and Kel Smith from HealthEd in Clark, N.J., brought life to lab summaries through an aggregate health score and rich graphs of lab values
• The Best Overall Design winner will receive $16,000, while the winners in the remaining categories will each receive $5,000.

"This challenge was unique because it engaged professionals and students inside and outside of the healthcare industry to participate and propose real solutions," said Ryan Panchadsaram, presidential innovation fellow for ONC.

See also: Object of beauty, or ungainly nuisance?]

The Health Design Challenge supports ONC’s efforts to engage consumers in their health through the use of technology, including the Blue Button, and is part of ONC’s Investing in Innovation (i2) Initiative to accelerate development and adoption of technology solutions that enhance quality and outcomes.