ONC renews ANSI as certification accreditor
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has approved the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for a second three-year term as the ONC-Approved Accreditor (ONC-AA) for the ONC Health Information Technology Certification Program.
ONC certifies EHR technology products to ensure they meet the standards to improve healthcare quality, safety and efficiency through the promotion of health information technology and electronic health information exchange.
EHR products that have been successfully tested by a National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program Accredited Testing Laboratory are considered Certified EHR Technology. The ONC-AA accredits the certification bodies that seek to serve as ONC-Authorized Certification Bodies (ONC-ACBs) under this program and ensures that they continue to meet requirements necessary to maintain accreditation.
ANSI was approved as the ONC-AA after a competitive process that included an evaluation against a specific set of requirements, including conformance to ISO/IEC 17011 (general requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies), and experience evaluating conformance of certification bodies to ISO Guide 65 (general requirements for bodies operating product certification systems).
ONC’s goal with the certification program is to provide assurance to EHR developers, users and the general public that certified products meet and maintain the functionalities required for certification.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.