Certification Commission Invites Comments on New 2008 Work

Town Calls scheduled; Public invited to participate in survey on progress of certification

CHICAGO -- August 14, 2007 -- The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology announced today that it will publish environmental scans - the first step in developing certification for 2008 - from each of its 10 work groups on Sept. 13.

"During the environmental scan, our work groups gather standards, use cases, and other emerging requirements for health IT, and also make an assessment of the readiness of the marketplace," said Mark Leavitt, MD, PhD, Certification Commission chairman. "This provides the evidence base needed to make fair and balanced decisions on what criteria to require, and when to do so."

Environmental scans will be produced by work groups in the following 10 areas: foundation; ambulatory; inpatient; network (health information exchanges); emergency department; cardiovascular medicine; child health; interoperability; security; and privacy and compliance.

Publication of the materials on Sept. 13 will kick off a 30-day public comment period during which industry representatives and healthcare stakeholders are invited to submit input. Details on how to submit comments will be available on www.cchit.org.

After the environmental scans, the next step in development will be a first draft of the 2008 criteria, which the Commission plans to publish for review and comment in late November.

Town Calls scheduled
A series of three Town Call teleconferences are scheduled for Sept. 19 to discuss the environment scans. Call times and topics to be covered are as follows:

  • 11 a.m. ET - Network, Interoperability, Security, and Privacy and Compliance
  • 1 p.m. ET - Cardiovascular Medicine, Emergency Department, and Child Health
  • 4 p.m. ET - Foundation, Ambulatory, and Inpatient

Each presentation will be followed by an interactive question and answer session. Presentation materials and details on how to participate in the teleconference will be posted to www.cchit.org.

Invitation to assess certification progress
The public and healthcare information professionals are invited to participate in a survey assessing the progress of the Certification Commission to date in developing a certification process for EHR products to be used in ambulatory (office-based) and inpatient (acute hospital) settings. Stakeholders - from healthcare information technology professionals to product vendors to providers - are encouraged to take the survey from Aug. 15 through Sept. 5 by visiting the Web site at www.cchit.org.

Inpatient EHR certification applications
The application period for inpatient EHR certification ends today. The first certified inpatient EHR products are scheduled to be announced in late October. The next inpatient application period will open Nov. 1.

"We are pleased to follow the success of the ambulatory certification program with a program for inpatient products," said Alisa Ray, Certification Commission executive director. "Although the size of the inpatient EHR market is smaller than ambulatory, resulting in a smaller number of expected applications, we anticipate that inpatient certification will be just as successful."

New certifications under 2007 ambulatory criteria
The first ambulatory EHR products certified under the enhanced 2007 criteria have been announced. Seven products have received CCHIT certification for 2007. Six of those products were developed by companies that also certified products in 2006. An up-to-date list of all certified products is posted on the Commission's Web site, www.cchit.org.

"For 2007, the Commission raised the bar significantly from the previous year's criteria. Ambulatory EHRs now must include electronic prescribing, demonstrate an ability to receive lab results, and show enhanced patient safety, quality, and security features," said Leavitt. "Investment in 2007 certified ambulatory EHRs gives providers even more powerful tools to improve quality, safety and efficiency while protecting the privacy of health information."

Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, officially accepted the Certification Commission's 2007 ambulatory and inpatient EHR criteria during a July 31 meeting of the American Health Information Community.

About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHITSM) is an independent, nonprofit organization that has been recognized by the federal government as an official certification body for electronic health record products. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of health information technology by creating a credible, sustainable product certification program. The certification requirements are based on widely accepted industry standards and involve the work of hundreds of expert volunteers and input from a variety of stakeholders throughout the health care industry. More information on CCHIT and CCHIT CertifiedSM products is available at www.cchit.org.