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CCHIT to adapt programs to federal health IT agenda
By John Moore {Courtesy of govhealthit.com}
May 19, 2009
Certification organization to adjust schedule, policy handbook to reflect mandates
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology will put its 2009-2010 programs on hold and update its certification policies in light of guidance contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
CCHIT said today it will defer the launch of its latest certification programs until it has reviewed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s forthcoming standards and certification criteria. ONC will deliver a draft rule containing those items to the Health and Human Services Department by Aug. 26, according to ONC’s plan for complying with ARRA. CCHIT’s certification cycle was set to begin July 1.
Organization officials said their review of the draft rule will ensure that the certification programs conform to ARRA incentive requirements.
The organization is also revising the Certification Handbook to reflect what it termed the expanded applicability of electronic health record certification under ARRA.
Those revisions include the testing of a new program that will certify EHR technologies under a wider range of deployment models. CCHIT officials also said they will provide a more extensive verification of successful implementation and use of commercial products.
The updated handbook is scheduled for release in June or July.
In addition, officials said they have approved the final 2009-2010 criteria for four certification initiatives: ambulatory EHRs, inpatient EHRs, emergency department EHRs and e-prescribing. CCHIT also approved updated criteria for ambulatory add-on options in its child health and cardiovascular medicine categories.
The organization also plans to publish a guide that maps its certification criteria to the characteristics of a qualified EHR system, as outlined in ARRA. The guide will be published May 29 at www.cchit.org.
About the Author
John Moore is a freelance writer based in Syracuse, N.Y.