business
CCHIT creates certification for homegrown EMRs
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 31, 2011
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology announced the creation of a certification program for hospitals that have custom-designed their electronic medical record systems. A similar certification program for homegrown EMR systems in physician practices is in the works, the organization said.
The hospital certification program, the EHR Alternative Certification for Hospitals, or EACH, launched on Jan. 18. CCHIT said it expects the program, which is geared toward physician practices or other ambulatory settings that have developed their own EMRs, to launch by the second quarter of this year.
CCHIT offers certification for individual modules of a complete EMR system. To qualify for the federal government's meaningful use incentives, organizations or individuals must possess EMR systems with the capability of performing all functions included in initial meaningful use requirements.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/01/31/bibf0131.htm.