The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology plans to sponsor an open community of practice for developers of health IT. The goal is to create solutions to challenges that prevent rapid and widespread meaningful use of electronic health records.

To accomplish that, ONC will hire a vendor to provide an infrastructure that supports the development of innovative tools through organized and coordinated competitions, according to a Dec. 20 announcement.

ONC anticipates initiating competitions for technical solutions in key areas such as health information exchange, decision support, system usability and safety and analytical tool development.

The vendor will assist ONC in the formation, vetting and launch of the innovation competitions. It will be responsible for conducting the competition process, and for attracting participants in the community and building interest in the private sector.