Business
AMIA calls for change in certification process
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 27, 2009
The American Medical Informatics Assn. criticized current electronic medical record certification processes in a letter to the Health IT Policy Committee's certification/adoption work group, an advisory group to the Office of the National Coordinator. The committee is charged with making recommendations to the ONC on certification and EMR adoption policies.
In the letter, the AMIA was critical of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, saying its approach was too "prescriptive and detailed" and does not consider the varying sizes, locations and types of available technical support in practices. The group said CCHIT's certification process is a one-size-fits-all solution that "will ultimately be counterproductive."
In response to similar criticisms by other groups in the past, CCHIT recently announced it is changing its pathways to certification by creating three different routes. The change will give vendors and practices more choices in the types of products they develop and adopt.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/07/27/bibf0727.htm.
