Federal decisionmakers need to understand how health IT policies and programs enable secondary use of EHR data.

The Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ASTP/ONC) sought to understand and communicate the impact of its health IT policies and programs on research and evidence-building. As the federal entity leading efforts to digitize health care, ASTP/ONC has implemented policies that support the use of electronic health records (EHRs) for clinical care and secondary purposes like research, public health surveillance, and quality improvement. With growing interest in real-world evidence and data-driven decision-making, ASTP/ONC needed to examine how its initiatives have enabled research that would not have been possible without the digitization of healthcare information. This work supports ASTP/ONC’s broader mission to improve health and care through data access, exchange, and use.