Commission announces first ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certifications

CHICAGO – Oct. 1, 2010 – The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT^®) announced today that it has tested and certified 33 Electronic Health Record (EHR) products under the Commission’s ONC-ATCB program, which certifies that the EHRs are capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria supporting Stage 1 meaningful use as approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Certification is required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The certifications include 19 Complete EHRs, which meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology, and 14 EHR Modules, which meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria.

CCHIT was among the first organizations to be recognized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). ONC-ATCB certification aligns with Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology published in the Federal Register in July 2010 and strictly adheres to the test procedures published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the time of testing.  

“We are pleased to have quickly completed the certification process for these EHRs so that companies 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. This is a testament to the Commission’s long history in certifying EHRs and the skills and experience of our trained team who test the products we certify,” said Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.S.S., Chair, CCHIT.  “We have ramped up our testing capacity to accommodate the demand for ONC-ATCB certification.  Applications and testing dates are available for other EHR developers seeking this certification,” she said.

EHR products that have received the Commission’s ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification are:

Complete EHRs

EHR Modules

Many companies offering ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certified EHR modules applied for certification of their products as certified complete EHRs but testing could not be completed on a small number of criteria (such as electronic prescribing) because planned updates to the test procedures by NIST were not available at the time of testing. These products are certified as EHR Modules in the interim but may return to become certified as complete EHRs in the near future. Providers interested in purchasing these products should follow CCHIT’s regular ONC-ATCB product certification updates available at http://www.cchit.org as they occur.  

The HHS Final Rule, Establishment of the Temporary Certification Program for Health Information Technology, requires EHR developers to provide complete information on the details of their ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification, including company and product name and version, date certified, unique product identification number, the criteria for which they are certified, and the clinical quality measures for which they were tested, and  any additional software a complete EHR or EHR module relied upon to demonstrate its compliance with a certification criteria. This information also will be available at http://www.cchit.org  next week for the products certified by CCHIT.

CCHIT and other ONC-ATCBs are required to provide ONC with a current list of Complete EHRs and  EHR Modules that have been tested and certified.  That information will be published on ONC’s Certified HIT Products List (CHPL) Web page when it becomes available. 

Many products tested and certified by CCHIT in the ONC-ATCB program are also CCHIT Certified® in the Commission’s independently developed certification program designed for physician practices and hospitals looking for more robust, integrated EHR products to support the unique needs of their clinicians and patients.  Health IT companies certify their EHRs in both programs to provide greater assurance to their customers. Companies with products applying for the CCHIT Certified program may also apply for the ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 program at no additional cost. Detailed information about products with this dual certification is available at http://www.cchit.org.