The Chicago-based Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) is updating both of its EHR certification programs to conform to the Interim Final Rule (IFR) recently released by Health and Human Services (HHS). Applications will open on the rule’s effective date of Feb. 12, 2010.
The IFR — entitled “Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology” — was published in the Federal Register on Jan. 13, along with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking describing the meaningful use objectives and incentive payment schedules for adoption of certified EHRs, it says.
According to CCHIT, organizations will be able to quickly update their certification programs to conform to the rules. Vendors who have already achieved certification under its programs will be offered incremental testing at no fee to close any gaps, and a gap analysis to assist that effort is posted at http://www.cchit.org/get_certified. For all other EHR vendors, the updated criteria and scripts will be published soon and applications will be accepted beginning Feb. 12.
The Commission is holding a free Web-based teleconference on Jan. 26, to discuss the changes in its programs and answer questions. Information about the call can be found here.
