CCHIT to Seek EHR Vendor Input on Town Call Meeting
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), a nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of health IT, will host a Town Call tomorrow for the vendor and developer community tomorrow. Chart Links Chief Operating Officer, Jim Hammer, will participate. On the call, CCHIT will gather input on the details and timing of its planned new paths to certification of electronic health record (EHR) technologies, with the goal of supporting more rapid, widespread adoption and meaningful use under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
“We are concerned that providers could not achieve meaningful EHR use in 2011 if they wait until Spring 2010 – the expected date of HHS final approval of requirements – to begin adopting this technology,” said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., Commission chair. “CCHIT has analyzed the recommendations of the Federal HIT Advisory Committees and is preparing to offer new paths to certification beginning this October.”
Besides updating and enhancing its current certification program for comprehensive EHRs in Ambulatory, Inpatient, and Emergency Department settings, the Commission plans to launch a more limited, modular inspection program for EHR technology, focusing only on compliance with ARRA-required standards.
During the event, planned for September 3 at 12:00 PM Central time, concepts and some details of these two programs will be discussed. Participants will be invited to submit questions and comments online, and respond to polling regarding their interest and readiness for participation in the process.
Information about the free Town Call is available at http://www.cchit.org/about/towncalls/commission-seeks-input-2009.
More information on CCHIT and CCHIT Certified® products is available at http://cchit.org and http://ehrdecisions.com.
CCHIT Addresses EHRs for Inpatient Rehabilitation
A task force of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) has issued recommendations for a new long term and post acute care electronic health records certification program.
The program would cover EHRs in skilled nursing and nursing facilities, Medicare-certified home health agencies, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long term acute care hospitals.
Recommendations from the task force include identifying core certification criteria common to the four priority care settings, reusing or adapting existing criteria from other CCHIT programs, identifying additional criteria specific to each care setting, and developing a roadmap indicating when the criteria are expected to be implemented.
A newly appointed CCHIT work group on long term and post acute care will start developing certification criteria in mid-July. The recommendations from the task force are available at cchit.org/about/organization/commission/advisory/ltpac.
[Source: Information taken from HealthData Management, written by Joseph Goedert.]