The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) is inviting EHR vendors to apply for participation in the 2008 Pilot Test to be held from March 17 through April 2, in preparation for the July 1 launch of its 2008 EHR certification program.

The Pilot Test is designed to validate new or revised criteria, test steps and testing tools against real products and to solicit vendor comment to fine tune the inspection process.

The benefits to the selected vendors include:

• Testing new products against the 2008 proposed test scripts without a fee;
• Checking the readiness of both their product and staff for an actual inspection;
• Providing feedback used to refine the final criteria and testing process; and
• Public announcement of participation at the end of the Pilot Test.

The 2008 Pilot Test certification categories include: ambulatory; inpatient; emergency department; enterprise (includes ambulatory, inpatient and emergency department functionality as well as demonstration of interoperability between the domains); child health; and cardiovascular medicine (a specialized certification available to ambulatory EHR product vendors).

CCHIT will qualify applicants based on their ability to support various certification product categories, as well as their demonstrated readiness for participation.

Vendors can find more information and apply online at www.cchit.org/pilot. Applications are due by Feb. 22 and selection will be finalized by Feb. 29, according to the commission.