The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) has received 27 additional applications from ambulatory EHR vendors as the July 1 deadline for certification under the 2007 criteria approaches.

The final group included 14 new applicants as well as 13 vendors with products previously certified under the 2006 criteria. Four new inpatient applications have also been received.

The proposed 2008 final criteria and test scripts for ambulatory EHR certification will be published by April 17 at cchit.org/participate/public-comment, with comment received through April 30, according to CCHIT.

The Commission said that final criteria and scripts will be published May 20. Applications will be accepted July 1-14, with the first 2008 certifications announced in mid-October. Other aspects of the pilot test are still under way, and the list of participating vendors will be announced when all pilot tests are completed.  Although the final comment period will not open until April 17, HIT vendors can begin reviewing the latest versions of the test scripts being used in the pilot tests at cchit.org/participate/public-comment. 

In other news, the Commission released the LAIKA interoperability testing tool on time, developed in partnership with MITRE, and has already put the tool into service to support testing during the ambulatory EHR pilots. 

The free and publicly available testing tool, developed under an open-source license, will be used by the Certification Commission on a secure platform during the inspection of a product’s compliance. More information is available at www.projectlaika.org.