CCHIT certifies 30 more EHRs
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) has certified 30 additional EHR products for office-based physicians. These latest certifications bring the total number of certifications to 81. All certified products are listed at www.cchit.org/cchit-certified.
During the 2006 certification period, a total of 98 ambulatory EHR product inspections were conducted, and full compliance was demonstrated by products in 83 percent of inspections. The Commission also estimates that more than 40 percent of companies with ambulatory EHR products have been certified.
“We are extremely pleased with these first year results, not just because of the number of products certified, but also because such a wide diversity of companies and organizations have brought EHRs for certification. A healthy percentage of them are small – under $1 million in revenues – while on the opposite end of the spectrum we see one of the country’s largest organizations, the Department of Defense. There are commercial as well as nonprofit entities, internally developed systems, even open source software projects,” said Mark Leavitt, MD, PhD, Certification Commission chairman. “I think this finally lays to rest any concerns about certification restricting the marketplace.”
CCHIT plans to reorganize the work group structure to support a more modular certification model. New work groups will take on certification of health information networks and emergency department EHRs, as well as address requirements for children’s healthcare and cardiovascular medicine.
Also, applications for certification of ambulatory EHRs under the 2007 criteria is now open. Among various new requirements this year, systems must be able to send prescriptions and refills to pharmacies electronically. In addition, vendors must demonstrate their product’s ability to electronically receive standards-based lab result messages.
For 2007 ambulatory certification criteria, along with test scripts, a revised handbook and contract agreement visit www.cchit.org.
During the 2006 certification period, a total of 98 ambulatory EHR product inspections were conducted, and full compliance was demonstrated by products in 83 percent of inspections. The Commission also estimates that more than 40 percent of companies with ambulatory EHR products have been certified.
“We are extremely pleased with these first year results, not just because of the number of products certified, but also because such a wide diversity of companies and organizations have brought EHRs for certification. A healthy percentage of them are small – under $1 million in revenues – while on the opposite end of the spectrum we see one of the country’s largest organizations, the Department of Defense. There are commercial as well as nonprofit entities, internally developed systems, even open source software projects,” said Mark Leavitt, MD, PhD, Certification Commission chairman. “I think this finally lays to rest any concerns about certification restricting the marketplace.”
CCHIT plans to reorganize the work group structure to support a more modular certification model. New work groups will take on certification of health information networks and emergency department EHRs, as well as address requirements for children’s healthcare and cardiovascular medicine.
Also, applications for certification of ambulatory EHRs under the 2007 criteria is now open. Among various new requirements this year, systems must be able to send prescriptions and refills to pharmacies electronically. In addition, vendors must demonstrate their product’s ability to electronically receive standards-based lab result messages.
For 2007 ambulatory certification criteria, along with test scripts, a revised handbook and contract agreement visit www.cchit.org.