Caring for patients with cardiovascular conditions can be complicated. However, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is pinning a significant amount of its hopes on the ability of technology, like EHR systems and others, to improve cardiac care.

For example, the agency recently unveiled plans to hold a contest among developers to see who can come up with the best mobile phone app for heart disease patients. The app is intended to provide patients with valuable information that can help them manage their condition better as well as send data to doctors that use EHR systems.

The contest is part of the Department of Health and Human Services' Million Hearts initiative, which seeks to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years. While there are many components to this effort, the ONC believes leveraging technology like mobile devices and EHRs could play a significant role.

Developers are eligible for up to $50,000 if the ONC chooses their application as the winning entry. The program could help accomplish two important goals of federal health agencies - namely enabling patients to care for themselves and increasing access to preventative care.