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ONC Names First EHR Certification Bodies

 |  By jsimmons@healthleadersmedia.com  
   September 01, 2010

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology of Chicago and the Drummond Group, Inc. of Austin, TX, have been named by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as the first technology review bodies authorized to test and certify electronic health record systems.

With the announcement of the testing and certification bodies, EHR vendors now can begin to have their products certified as meeting and supporting meaningful use criteria released in July by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Applications for additional authorized testing and certification bodies are still under review.

Certification is "a crucial step because it ensures that certified EHR products will be available to support the achievement of the required meaningful use objectives, that these products will be aligned with one another on key standards, and that doctors and hospitals can invest with confidence in these certified systems," says David Blumenthal, MD, the national coordinator for health information technology.

Certification of EHRs is part of the initiative undertaken last  year under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which created new incentive payment programs as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help healthcare providers as they transition from paper?based medical records to EHRs.

"Multiple steps are underway to carry out the intent of Congress in supporting rapid and effective adoption of EHRs throughout our health care system, Dr. Blumenthal says.

 
CMS is working to create an online system for providers to register and attest for the EHR incentive programs, according to Blumenthal. The first incentive payments are targeted to be made in May 2011. Meanwhile, the ONC is also carrying out new programs of technical assistance and training—especially for smaller hospitals and physician practices.

We are gratified to be among the first organizations authorized to certify EHRs by ONC," says Karen M. Bell, MD, chair of CCHIT. CCHIT plans to launch its authorized certification program on Sept. 20 with a town hall-type webcast describing its application and testing process; CCHIT will take new health IT developer applications immediately after. The first group of certified complete EHRs and EHR modules are expected to be announced within weeks of that launch.

In addition to certification, CCHIT will continue to offer its CCHIT certified program for ambulatory and inpatient EHR products that exceed the ONC criteria and are designed for hospitals and physician practices that are "looking for assurance of more robust, integrated EHR products," the company says.

"We highly commend the work of ONC and their accreditation process which tested the details of our testing and certification process and our industry knowledge," says Rik Drummond, CEO of the Drummond Group.

"Having started new tests with other industries, we found this approval process to be the most demanding and the most thorough we have encountered," he added.

Janice Simmons is a senior editor and Washington, DC, correspondent for HealthLeaders Media Online. She can be reached at jsimmons@healthleadersmedia.com.

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