Commission Announces First Certified Products For Long Term And Post Acute Care

CHICAGO – Nov. 7, 2011 – The Certification Commission announced today the first group of electronic health records (EHRs) to be certified under the CCHIT Certified® 2011 program for Long Term and Post Acute Care (LTPAC), which includes EHR use in care settings such as skilled nursing facilities, home health care, hospice and rehabilitation centers.

“This CCHIT certification offers LTPAC providers greater assurance that their EHR systems will support their individual patient care and business needs,” said Cynthia Morton, executive vice president, National Association for the Support of Long Term Care. “Our association supports CCHIT’s efforts to raise the bar for EHRs used in these care settings.”

Products that have been certified under the CCHIT Certified 2011 LTPAC program including additional certification in Skilled Nursing Facility and Home Health are: 

• AOD Software, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Answers EHR, version Autumn 2011; and
• HealthMEDX, Inc., Vision, Ozark, Mo., HealthMEDX Vision, version 7.1.10. 

CCHIT certification is an independently developed, rigorous inspection of integrated EHR functionality, interoperability, and security. As part of the process, successful use is verified at live sites. The criteria used to test these products and information about applying for certification is available at http://www.cchit.org/certify/2011/cchit-certified-2011-long-term-post-acute-care-ltpac-ehr.

“LTPAC providers are not currently eligible for EHR adoption incentives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA) HITECH program,” said John Derr, leader of strategic clinical technology, Golden Living, LLC and a member of CCHIT’s board of trustees. “Yet, LTPAC providers know that EHRs are important to the quality of care for patients discharged to them. The evolving ARRA incentives are based, in part, on hospitals demonstrating electronically that they meet quality measures and share patient information with other providers. It’s an advantage to LTPAC providers who want to form partnerships with hospitals to adopt CCHIT Certified® LTPAC EHRs. CCHIT’s certification of an EHR’s integrated interoperability and security features will prove invaluable as providers seek to participate in community healthcare organizations designed to foster coordination across the spectrum of care. CCHIT certification is a win-win for all.”

LTPAC EHRs may also be certified in the federal Office of the National Coordinator authorized (ONC-ATCB) EHR certification program for eligible providers and hospitals if they meet those criteria.

“CCHIT’s newest certifications are designed to satisfy special care requirements, and are part of the comprehensive CCHIT Certified® program, which goes beyond the federal EHR certification criteria in order to meet clinicians’ future health IT needs,” said Karen Bell, M.D., chair of CCHIT. “The volunteer advisory panel and work group that developed this first round of LTPAC certification criteria were broadly representative of that community. They wisely developed both a core LTPAC certification that can be applied to all EHRs and they prioritized some add-on criteria for skilled nursing and home care. That approach gives all LTPAC EHR companies and providers an opportunity to benefit from this new certification program.”

CCHIT also offers special EHR certification programs for Cardiovascular Medicine, Child Health, Emergency Departments, Behavioral Health, Dermatology, Oncology and Clinical Research.

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 and is approved by the Office of the
 (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB).  More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and ONC-ATCB certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org.

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