HHS' newest 10-year health goals for the country, Healthy People 2020, focus on prevention, shared decisionmaking between patients and providers, personalized self-management of health conditions and, yes, "meaningful use" of health IT. The department is issuing a related challenge, called myHealthyPeople, to application developers to create apps for healthcare professionals who track state- and community-level health data.

The initiative's overarching goals include attaining high quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death; and eliminating health disparities and improving the health of all groups. "This milestone in disease prevention and health promotion creates an opportunity to leverage information technology to make Healthy People come alive for all Americans in their communities and workplaces," HHS Chief Technology Officer Todd Park says in a press release.

The myHealthyPeople challenge, according to Park, "will help spur innovative approaches to helping communities track their progress using Healthy People objectives and targets as well as develop an agenda for health improvement." Applications should be easy to access through any fixed or mobile computing platform and are suitable for users on the front lines of prevention efforts even if they are not technologically adept.

To be eligible for prizes of up to $2,500, application submissions are due March 7.

Unlike earlier versions of the goals, the 2020 set reflects an awareness that natural and man-made disasters, such as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina and H1N1 flu pandemic, can happen. It calls for all-hazards preparedness for any public health emergency. "The launch of Healthy People 2020 comes at a critical time," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says in the same release. "Our challenge and opportunity is to avoid preventable diseases from occurring in the first place."

HHS officials also see health IT adoption presenting the industry with a new set of issues. "Social media and emerging technologies promise to blur the line between expert and peer health information" the Healthy People 2020 framework report says. "Monitoring and assessing the impact of these new media, including mobile health, on public health will be challenging."

For further details:
- see this Government Health IT story
- read this take from Healthcare IT News
- have a look at the HHS press release
- here's a 3-page summary of the Healthy People 2020 framework
- see HHS' updated Healthy People website
- view the website for more information on the myHealthyPeople app development challenge

Sandra Yin contributed to this article.

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