CCHIT Presentation At HIMSS12 On EHR Certification For Healthcare Providers

CHICAGO – Jan. 24, 2012 – The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, in cooperation with  New York University Langone Medical Center, will present the medical center’s experience self-certifying an EHR in CCHIT’s EHR Alternative Certification for Healthcare Providers program (EACH™). The presentation, Feb. 22, at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2012 Annual Conference and Exhibition, will describe CCHIT’s customized ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program designed to meet the needs of hospitals and other eligible providers that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial products, or have developed their own EHR systems.  More information about the program is available at http://each.cchit.org. 

Representatives of individual hospitals and hospital systems also are invited to meet with the CCHIT certification team to learn more about the EACH program during the HIMSS meeting Feb. 21-23, in Las Vegas.  Appointments may be scheduled online or with Dana Smicklas at dsmicklas@cchit.org.  

“Our presentation will explore the difficulties faced by healthcare providers with installed EHR software. These systems must be certified for hospitals and providers to qualify for financial incentives through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and avoid Medicare penalties,” said Naomi Levinthal, MA, MS, EACH certification manager, CCHIT, and co-presenter of the lecture at HIMSS. 

“To date, hospital and eligible provider organizations have certified about 25 EHR systems since the program was launched.  As the originator of EHR certification, CCHIT has years of experience that has enabled us to develop efficient preparation tools, certification processes and virtual testing methods to inspect hundreds of EHR products,” said Alisa Ray, CCHIT’s executive director. “We have the capacity to begin work immediately with any healthcare provider that believes they are a candidate for this customized EHR certification program.”

The EACH program, which relies on required ONC criteria and NIST test procedures and tools, offers:

• A series of self-paced, online learning programs designed to prepare EACH program applicants for testing and certification
• Online inventory and self-assessment tools developed to help hospitals evaluate how their installed EHR technology measures up to ONC’s  criteria and standards
• Additional hands-on support provided by CCHIT’s EACH program staff and access to an online community of other hospitals participating in  the EACH program

Alternative certification is not needed if a hospital has adopted an EHR with complete certification, or a combination of certified EHR modules that meet all of the 2011/2012 certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the meaningful use objectives established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of HHS.

Developer attendees at HIMSS also can preview The Source™, an online certification management service with guides and interactive tools to help developers of commercial EHR products prepare for ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 testing and certification, and maintain their certification updates.  Meetings may be scheduled by contacting Rylla Riverman at rriverman@cchit.org.

In addition to ONC-ATCB certification, CCHIT will continue to offer its independently developed CCHIT Certified® program for products that exceed federal standards and are designed for hospitals and physician practices that want greater assurance that their EHR products will support the unique business and patient care needs of their clinicians. CCHIT Certified products also may be certified under the ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 program.

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 National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (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.