The Dept. of Health and Human Services published its Interim Final Rule, "Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology," which includes certification criteria for EHRs, in the Federal Register Jan. 13. Now that the standards rules for certification have been updated to align with the meaningful use criteria, when will the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) create a process to recognize certification bodies, which is required by law?
The Health Information Technology Policy Committee, the federal panel tasked with setting electronic health record (EHR) policies under the Dept. of Health and Human Services, recommended in August 2009 that EHRs be certified by multiple organizations.
In December 2009, the Drummond Group, Inc., an Austin, Texas-based interoperability test lab, announced that it was planning to apply to become a certifying body when ONC releases its requirements for certifying bodies for EHRs.
I thought I read about another company stepping forward, but I can't seem to find reference to it. Perhaps someone can verify whether there was another announcement made or not. Regardless, if any other company is planning to join the Drummond Group, Inc., it may be working under the radar until ONC establishes a certification body process.
It seems unlikely that EHR products already certified by CCHIT would not be recognized, although in referring to CCHIT going forward, David Blumenthal, MD, head of ONC, said, "Its future status will be governed by the regulatory process that is ongoing right now."
It will be interesting to see what companies do step up, and what CCHIT's future will be.
