CCHIT Offers Public Comment On Standards And Criteria IFR

CHICAGO – March 12, 2010 – The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) today submitted its public comments on the Interim Final Rule (IFR) entitled “Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifics, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology” to the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). 

“We congratulate ONC on development of the IFR, but we believe the criteria and standards need refinement in order to drive an achievable step forward in the meaningful use of EHRs,” said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Certification Commission, adding that the Commission is “concerned about the possibility of an unintended deceleration in the pace of EHR adoption.”

The comments highlight three broad concerns about the IFR requirements:

• 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.

The Commission also commented on the regulatory impact analysis required as part of the rule making process.  While the IFR concludes that the new rules would not impact a significant number of small businesses, the Commission supplied data and analysis indicating the impact would be very substantial.

A copy of the comments, including a more detailed analysis is available at http://cchit.org.

Town Call Planned
The Commission plans a Town Call, a free Web-based teleconference open to all, on March 18, to discuss its public comments, as well as certification progress and plans in light of the publication of the Certification Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) published by ONC on March 10.  Questions and answers will follow the presentation. Information about the call is available at http://www.cchit.org/about/towncalls/certification-update.

Work Group Applications Opening
In preparation for development of two new certification programs for Women’s Health and Oncology, the Commission is opening recruitment for volunteer work group members conducted only through the Web site from March 16 through April 16, 2010. Those interested in applying should visit http://www.cchit.org/participate, beginning on March 16, for more information.  Work Group members will be announced in June.

About CCHIT

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology.  The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006.  More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and certified modular electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org and http://ehrdecisions.com. 

“CCHIT®” and “CCHIT Certified®” are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.