The American Health Information Management Association, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and National Alliance for Health Information Technology formed and initially funded CCHIT in 2004 to pave the way for certifying EHRs. About two years later, CCHIT became an independent, not-for-profit organization and began working under a federal government contact to develop and run a voluntary program to certify electronic health records products as supporting specific functionalities. The program later grew in scope and involved additional certifiers as the HITECH Act's meaningful use incentive program was being implemented.
