ONC to launch permanent health IT certification program

Mary Stevens | | Health Exec | EMR/EHR
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has established a permanent certification program for health IT. The permanent program will eventually replace the temporary certification plans, which were outlined last summer.

The National Coordinator will use the permanent certification program to authorize organizations to certify electronic health record (EHR) technology, such as Complete EHRs and/or EHR Modules. The permanent certification program could also be expanded to include the certification of other types of HIT, according to CMS.

These regulations will be published in the Federal Register Jan. 7 and will be effective 30 days after publication. ONC expects the permanent certification program will begin on Jan. 1, 2012. The temporary program will continue until the permanent program is ready.

“The act of transitioning from the temporary certification program to the permanent certification program will have no impact on the certifications issued to EHR technology,” according to an ONC release.

The permanent program calls for creation of an ONC-Approved Accreditor (ONC-AA), to be approved through a competitive process to accredit certification bodies. The ONC-AA will be selected every three years.

All certification bodies will have to apply to ONC for ONC-Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) status. Organizations that are ONC-ATCBs (certification bodies authorized under the temporary certification program) will not automatically become ONC-ACBs, because a certification body must first be accredited to be eligible for ONC-ACB status. An ONC-ACB will have to renew its status every three years.

When the Secretary Kathleen Sebelius adopts new and/or revised certification criteria in future rulemakings, gap certification will be available as a more efficient certification option to have previously certified Complete EHRs and EHR Modules tested and certified to only the applicable new and/or revised certification criteria.

“We believe that one ONC-AA will be able to address and support the needs of the market based on our projection of approximately [six] ONC-ACBs operating under the permanent certification program,” the ONC stated.

More about the permanent certification program can be found here.
 

Mary Stevens

Related Content

Private equity-backed cardiology group puts cloud-based technology in hands of its cardiologists
AI helps cardiologists deliver personalized healthcare—but there is still plenty of work to do
Indiana hospitals reduce nuisance alerts by 77% with medication decision support software
Leveraging machine learning to rapidly create clinical AI algorithms
How medication reconciliation data consolidation in the EHR enables better patient care
How are the best in KLAS Health IT vendor rankings created?

Around the web

Cardiovascular Business
Payment cuts and beyond: Key takeaways for cardiologists from the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

AI in Healthcare
A modest proposal to rally AI regulators around a simple game plan

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”

Cardiovascular Business
FDA commissioner urges clinicians to join fight against medical misinformation

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, said the clinical community needs to combat health misinformation at a grassroots level. He warned that patients are immersed in a "sea of misinformation without a compass."

Design by Adaptive Theme
Trimed Popup
Trimed Popup