The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last month reported national launch of Doctor’s Office Quality Information Technology University, or DOQ-IT U, to support health information technology (HIT) in physicians’ offices.

CMS said that DOQ-IT U is an Internet, interactive tool designed to provide solo and small-to-medium-sized physician practices with the education for successful HIT adoption, including lessons on culture change, vendor selection and operational redesign, along with clinical processes. Nationally available, the e-learning system is provided free.

DOQ-IT U will provide lessons in assessment, planning and implementation methodologies that will be disease- and population-specific, incorporating clinical decision support and evidence-based medicine guidelines. It offers a self-paced curriculum and associated tools for physicians, CMS said, on adult learning principles. Among its features are surveys, utilization tracking, and Continuing Medical Education/Continuing Education Unit (CME/CEU) offering/issuing capabilities.

The first learning modules focus on physician office workflow redesign, culture change, and communication necessary for successful electronic health record adoption, implementation of care management and the incorporation of a patient self-management component to clinical care. Disease specific modules, starting with diabetes, will include a patient self-management component, which is critical to successfully managing patients with chronic disease.

Leslie Norwalk, acting administrator of CMS, said the DOQ-IT U interactive platform, self-paced curriculum, and associated tools will provide physicians “easy access to the resources they need to help ensure that patients receive the highest quality of care at all times.”

DOQ-IT U is being developed and managed by the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) program, under contract to CMS. A QIO is present in each U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia.

An advisory panel of experts from the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Board of Internal Medicine, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, private payers, American Health Information Management Association, and patient self-management experts will provide content and evaluation of the care management/DOQ-IT U modules.