HORSHAM, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and a leading provider of ambulatory healthcare and connectivity solutions, today announced that NextGen® EHR (Electronic Health Record) version 5.6 has earned designation as a premarket conditionally CCHIT Certified® 2011 Ambulatory EHR, additionally certified for Child Health and Cardiovascular Medicine with Advanced Reporting, in the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology’s (CCHIT®) Comprehensive certification program. Also, for the first time ever, CCHIT rated vendors based on “usability” and NextGen EHR version 5.6 received five stars – the organization’s highest rating.
CCHIT Certified® certification designates that NextGen EHR version 5.6 has been tested against the most comprehensive set of new and existing criteria related to items such as interoperability, privacy and security, and functionality. As a pre-market conditionally CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR, NextGen EHR version 5.6 has passed inspection of 100 percent of these criteria.
“With the federal government soon to release its guidelines for meaningful use, it is critical for healthcare organizations and providers to select HIT products that are expected to meet certification criteria,” said Scott Decker, president of NextGen Healthcare. “This marks the fourth consecutive year our NextGen EHR product is one of the first to receive the most current CCHIT certification. We guarantee a solution that will always evolve to meet the requirements for federal stimulus reimbursement programs of interest to our clients, and support that with a Money-Back Guarantee Program to reduce the investment risk for physicians.”
“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) incentives have the potential to significantly accelerate adoption of EHR technology by office-based physicians, other eligible providers and hospitals,” said Alisa Ray, CCHIT executive director. “Companies demonstrating their compliance with the proposed Federal standards are now able to offer certified products to providers who wish to purchase and implement EHR technology and achieve meaningful use in time for the 2011-2012 incentives.”
In response to the new requirements of ARRA, as well as ongoing Federal rulemaking activities, the Certification Commission launched two distinct programs of certification on October 7, 2009. In addition to its established CCHIT Certified® Comprehensive programs, CCHIT also launched a more limited, modular Preliminary ARRA certification program.
The CCHIT Certified 2011 Comprehensive program is differentiated from the Preliminary ARRA program by providing a rigorous, multi-faceted evaluation of integrated EHR functionality, interoperability and security. In addition, certified products meet or exceed applicable proposed Federal standards – those that exist on the date of certification – for certified EHR technology to support the 2011-2012 incentives under ARRA. As part of the inspection, key aspects of successful use are verified at live sites, and product usability is rated.
