Health information technology (health IT) is in the funding spotlight. In recent years, a number of public and private initiatives converged to make grants available for innovative health IT projects. Oncology, with its unique health IT needs, has potential to inspire innovation.

This year The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced two new health IT funding programs. The first opportunity focuses on health care providers’ information needs and will fund research that elucidates “the nature of cognition, task distribution, and work in health care delivery settings.” The second opportunity focuses on consumer health IT design.

AHRQ has made it a priority to fund health IT projects since 2004. It took heed of the Institute of Medicine report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System (2000), which called, in part, for the adoption of innovative health IT to reduce medical errors. AHRQ has three broad goals for health IT funding: 1) improving health care decision making, 2) supporting patient-centered care, and 3) improving the quality and safety of medication management. The two new programs supplement existing AHRQ health IT funding opportunities. You might also want to check out AHRQ’s Health IT Tools and Resources.

On a related note, the Institute of Medicine just released its new report on Health IT and Patient Safety.