WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has named the first two organizations that have been authorized to test and certify electronic health record (EHR) systems for new meaningful use standards.
The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) named Chicago-based Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and Austin-based Drummond Group as the first two accrediting bodies.
"Drummond Group has been working diligently for many months to meet the stringent criteria set forth by ONC to become certified as an ONC-ATCB, and we are very pleased that ONC has recognized our efforts and our competency to be an approved testing and certification body," said Rik Drummond, CEO Drummond Group Inc.
The authorization allows the two groups be an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) to certify complete EHRs and all EHR modules for both ambulatory and inpatient settings.
“Less than two months following the issuance of final meaningful use rules, we have approved our initial ONC-ATCB certifiers. EHR vendors can begin immediately to get their products certified,” said David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for Health Information Technology. “This is a crucial step because it ensures that certified EHR products will be available to support the achievement of the required meaningful use objectives, that these products will be aligned with one another on key standards, and that doctors and hospitals can invest with confidence in these certified systems.”
Applications for additional ONC-ATCBs are also under review, according to HHS.
“We highly commend the work of ONC and their accreditation process, which tested the details of our testing and certification process and our industry knowledge,” Drummond added. “Having started new tests with other industries, we found this approval process to be the most demanding and the most thorough we have encountered. With our approval as an ONC-ATCB, EHR vendors and implementers can have full confidence in our testing and certification services, and we look forward to beginning testing with the many EHR software companies that have contacted us."
Certification of EHRs is part of a broad initiative undertaken by Congress and President Obama under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
HITECH created new incentive payment programs to help health providers as they transition from paper-based medical records to EHRs. Incentive payments totaling as much as $27 billion may be made under the program. Individual physicians and other eligible professionals can receive up to $44,000 through Medicare and almost $64,000 through Medicaid. Hospitals can receive millions.
To qualify for the incentive payments, providers must not only adopt, but also demonstrate meaningful use of, certified EHR systems. The law envisions that defined meaningful use requirements will help ensure that the patient and provider benefits of EHRs are realized. Initial meaningful use criteria were defined in a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 28.
With the initial two ONC-ATCBs now named, EHR vendors can apply to them for certification of their products. By purchasing certified products, providers will have assurance that the products will support achievement of the meaningful use objectives.
“Multiple steps are underway to carry out the intent of Congress in supporting rapid and effective adoption of EHRs throughout our health care system,” Blumenthal said. “The naming of initial ONC-ATCBs is one important step. Actual certification of multiple vendors’ systems by the ONC-ATCBs is an important next step. CMS is also working to create an online system for providers to register and attest for the EHR incentive programs. The first incentive payments are targeted to be made in May 2011. Meanwhile, ONC is also carrying out new programs of technical assistance and training, especially for smaller hospitals and physician practices.”
Blumenthal said the Health IT initiative “is on an aggressive schedule to meet the urgent targets set by Congress and the President toward realizing the quality and safety improvements that we can achieve through health information technology.”
