Eighty-five percent of hospitals in the contracting phase of an IT acquisition have signed with a CCHIT-certified vendor since November 2007, according to data from the HIMSS Analytics Database.
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, or CCHIT, released its first inpatient certified products in November 2007.
HIMSS Analytics collects and analyzes healthcare data from more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals and 100 applications relating to IT processes and environments, products, information systems department composition, costs and management metrics, healthcare trends and purchasing decisions.
"By selecting certified EMR products, these health systems know that these applications will meet important guidelines for functionality, interoperability and security," said Carla Smith, executive vice president for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. "With money for health IT included in the economic stimulus package, we look forward to seeing continued implementations of these certified systems."
Smith said CCHIT's certification program helps mitigate confusing claims on the EMR products available in the marketplace, making it easier to judge product suitability, quality, interoperability and data portability and security.
With the introduction of CCHIT certification for inpatient or acute care EMR products, support for the certification process remains strong among health IT purchasers at healthcare organizations, HIMSS Analytics concluded.
"CCHIT Certified products are a great first step in ensuring healthcare information technology products eventually work together more seamlessly so we can share critical clinical data between different products," said Laureen O'Brien, CIO of the 1,341-bed Providence Health & Services in Portland, Ore.
"At St. Clair Hospital, validating the CCHIT certification of all EMR-related products for use inside the hospital and in the ambulatory setting is a key part of our process," said Richard J Schaeffer, vice president and CIO of the 329-bed St. Clair Hospital in Pittsburgh. "We need to be sure that our investment in the systems will truly pay dividends in achieving interoperability and compliance with regulatory initiatives."
