CCHIT proposes three EHR certification paths
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) has proposed creating three EHR-certification tracks for health IT developers.
The commission's proposal would create three paths:
EHR-C, which most closely resembles CCHIT's current EHR-certification effort, would provide what the organization termed a "rigorous certification of comprehensive EHR systems that significantly exceed minimum federal standards."
EHR-M would offer a more flexible certification option for vendors whose products might be more specialized than a comprehensive system.
EHR-S is geared toward providers who take a do-it-yourself approach to EHR and assemble systems from non-certified components.
Government Health IT reported that the CCHIT Chair Mark Leavitt said: "We obviously need to change. When you look at our work before [the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and after, it's just dramatically different."
Leavitt added that the ARRA casts EHR adoption into law, with incentives for deployment and penalties for non-use, according to Government Health IT. The law provides those incentives to providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems. Currently, CCHIT is the only federally recognized certification entity, but ARRA states that the national coordinator may recognize more than one program.
The commission's proposal would create three paths:
- EHR Comprehensive (EHR-C),
- EHR Module (EHR-M) and
- EHR Site (EHR-S).
EHR-C, which most closely resembles CCHIT's current EHR-certification effort, would provide what the organization termed a "rigorous certification of comprehensive EHR systems that significantly exceed minimum federal standards."
EHR-M would offer a more flexible certification option for vendors whose products might be more specialized than a comprehensive system.
EHR-S is geared toward providers who take a do-it-yourself approach to EHR and assemble systems from non-certified components.
Government Health IT reported that the CCHIT Chair Mark Leavitt said: "We obviously need to change. When you look at our work before [the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and after, it's just dramatically different."
Leavitt added that the ARRA casts EHR adoption into law, with incentives for deployment and penalties for non-use, according to Government Health IT. The law provides those incentives to providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems. Currently, CCHIT is the only federally recognized certification entity, but ARRA states that the national coordinator may recognize more than one program.