business
EMRs continue to get CCHIT testing
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 29, 2010
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology has decided not to halt testing of electronic medical record systems while it awaits accreditation from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as an approved EMR system certifier.
The organization is testing systems against proposed federal standards that would qualify users for incentives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
CCHIT spokeswoman Sue Reber said there was discussion of halting testing as the organization goes through the accreditation process. Several vendors had open applications with the organization when the ONC announced its accreditation criteria. Reber said the organization feels confident in its ability to receive accreditation, and the vendors expressed an interest in proceeding with the certification process with the understanding that the criteria for certification could change.
The ONC said in its recently released rules that anyone could apply to become a testing site for systems and an accrediting organization. At least one other group has expressed interest in becoming an accredited tester and certification body. The Drummond Group, an Austin, Texas-based interoperability test lab, said it also would seek accreditation now that it has reviewed the requirements to become accredited.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/03/29/bibf0329.htm.