CCHIT Comments on Final Rule

The Chicago-based Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) has submitted its public comments on the Interim Final Rule (IFR) to the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC, Washington).

Entitled, “Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifics, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology,” the comments highlight three primary concerns about the IFR requirements, according to CCHIT:

• Under the IFR, the scope of a ‘Complete EHR’ inappropriately includes administrative and billing functions, diverting funds and effort into unnecessary certifications of already-installed billing systems for every doctor and hospital seeking the EHR incentives.
• Certain criteria and standards in the IFR may represent a step backwards in progress toward EHR interoperability, by dropping standards that were already federally-recognized and widely adopted, while other criteria demand an unrealistic leap forward.
• Some IFR criteria define required functions of an EHR too microscopically, adding unnecessary costs and complexity, and creating barriers to innovation.

To view the comments, visit http://cchit.org.

CCHIT is hosting a free, Web-based teleconference on Thursday, March 18 at 3 p.m. CST (4 p.m. EST) to discuss public comments, as well as certification progress and plans in light of the publication of the Certification Notice of Proposed Rule Making by ONC on March 10. More information is available at http://www.cchit.org/towncalls.