By Mary Mosquera
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has named InfoGard Laboratories, Inc., of San Luis Obispo, Calif., as the third organization to test and approve electronic health records under ONC's temporary certification program.
InfoGard Labs tests and validates the security of IT products and networks for approval and use by the federal government and large financial institutions, including Visa International and MasterCard International. The company also offers independent third-party security testing services.
InfoGard Labs joins the Drummond Group and the Certification Commission for Health IT, both of which were selected last month, as an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). More organizations are being considered as ONC reviews their applications, according to ONC's Sept. 17 announcement.
The addition of InfoGard Labs gives another option for EHR vendors to have their products tested and certified that they can perform the functions necessary to support the standards and certification criteria for meaningful use.
The temporary program, which will expire in December 2011, is designed to enable health IT vendors to have their products and services certified in time for providers to meet 2011 deadlines for qualifying for first stage meaningful use requirements.
ONC is developing a permanent certification program, in which separate organizations will perform testing and certification activities, for subsequent years of the incentive program.
Certification assures health care providers that the EHR technology that they acquire can perform the functions they need to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive program. Physicians and hospitals that become meaningful users of certified EHRs and modules are eligible for incentive payments under the HITECH Act.
ONC will also keep a Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) of all certified EHR products, and what criteria they have been certified for.
