CCHIT urges quick adoption of EHR criteria
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) has issued a response to "meaningful use" EHR recommendations presented last month by the Health IT Policy Committee (HITPC), and urged Health and Human Services (HHS) to quickly present an EHR adoption transition plan.
CCHIT said that there should be some urgency involved in announcing a transition plan because “uncertainty surrounding the HHS/ONC [Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT] decisions is now slowing adoption,” and providers that hesitate to adopt will find it “impossible to purchase, implement and meaningfully use EHR technology in time for the 2011-2012 ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009] incentives window and the stimulus’ effect will not be realized.”
CCHIT also expressed broad agreement with the HITPC recommendations, which included:
CCHIT also urged ONC to clarify that any EHR technology inspected by a body recognized by HHS, and found to be in compliance with 2011 HHS certification criteria, meets eligibility requirements for 2011 ARRA incentives.
CCHIT said it plans to launch a preliminary 2011 HHS-qualified certification in early October that will allow providers and hospitals to meet one or more meaningful use objectives.
CCHIT said that there should be some urgency involved in announcing a transition plan because “uncertainty surrounding the HHS/ONC [Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT] decisions is now slowing adoption,” and providers that hesitate to adopt will find it “impossible to purchase, implement and meaningfully use EHR technology in time for the 2011-2012 ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009] incentives window and the stimulus’ effect will not be realized.”
CCHIT also expressed broad agreement with the HITPC recommendations, which included:
- focusing certification on meaningful use;
- leveraging the certification process to improve progress on security, privacy and interoperability;
- improving objectivity and transparency of the certification process;
- expanding certification to include a range of software sources;
- and developing a short-range transition plan.
CCHIT also urged ONC to clarify that any EHR technology inspected by a body recognized by HHS, and found to be in compliance with 2011 HHS certification criteria, meets eligibility requirements for 2011 ARRA incentives.
CCHIT said it plans to launch a preliminary 2011 HHS-qualified certification in early October that will allow providers and hospitals to meet one or more meaningful use objectives.