CCHIT Reveals 2009-2010 Game Plan

HDM Breaking News, May 19, 2009

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology has approved final 2009-2010 criteria for a number of its EHR certification efforts. But it will delay launching its inspection programs using the new criteria until the federal government prepares a draft rule for carrying out the economic stimulus EHR incentives.

CCHIT has approved new criteria for certification of ambulatory, inpatient and emergency department electronic health records. The Chicago-based organization also has approved criteria for its new, stand-alone electronic prescribing certification. And it has approved updated criteria for the ambulatory EHR add-on options for child health and cardiovascular medicine.

CCHIT will publish a guide to mapping all the new criteria to the characteristics of a qualified EHR as described in the economic stimulus package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That guide, and all the new criteria, will be available May 29 at cchit.org.

CCHIT will delay launch of its 2009-2010 inspection programs until it reviews a new federal “draft rule” of standards and certification criteria for Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payments under ARRA, says Mark Leavitt, M.D., who chairs CCHIT. That rule is due Aug. 26.

Although ARRA calls for use of “certified” electronic records, the federal government has not yet officially  determined whether it will use CCHIT’s updated criteria.

CCHIT will release an updated certification handbook and details for applying for 2009-2010 certification in June or July, Leavitt says. The handbook will outline changes in the certification program, including more extensive verification of successful implementation and use of commercial products. It also will describe the piloting of a new program to inspect and certify “EHR technologies in use” that will accommodate a wider variety of development and deployment models.

--Howard Anderson

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