Making Strides in Certification

No one is a bigger critic of HITECH than I, but I have to give credit where it’s due. Before we started down this road, there was one certification organization — CCHIT — and it had all sorts of PR problems in the form of links to vendor-run HIMSS. But at that time, without certification [...]

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Is Self-Certifying the Path to Tranquility?

As Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism once said “The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” When I first read the announcement from CCHIT in November that they had a process for Hospitals to self certify their EHR Environment for Meaningful Use, I was thrown back to ancient eastern philosophy [...]

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Program Aims to Help Hospitals Meet Certification Mark

CCHIT Program Designed for Hospital Environments

CCHIT is launching a new EHR certification program for hospitals that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial products or self-developed EHR systems. “The EHR Alternative Certification for Hospitals,” or EACH program, is an ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification for installed hospital EHR technology. The program contains three phases, all of which are designed to give applicants the greatest [...]

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CCHIT Launching Program for Complex Hospital EHR Environments

Program Launched for Hybrid Hospital EHRs

On Dec. 15, CCHIT will launch a new EHR certification program for hospitals that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial products or have developed their own EHR systems. “The EHR Alternative Certification for Hospitals,” or EACH program, is an ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification for installed hospital EHR technology. The program will be introduced at a Web cast [...]

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CCHIT Begins HITECH Certifications, InfoGard Joins Party

CCHIT has launched its ONC-ATCB program for EHRs to certify they are capable of meeting 2011/2012 Stage 1 Meaningful Use criteria. The certification will be offered for Complete EHRs that meet all HHS 2010/2011 criteria and EHR Modules that meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria. According to the organization, [...]

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CCHIT/Drummond Become First ONC-ATCBs

CCHIT First ONC-ATCB

CCHIT has been recognized by ONC as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) for EHRs. It is authorized to offer HHS certification for complete EHRs that meet all of the Stage 1, 2011/2012 HHS/ONC criteria, as well as certification for modular EHR products that meet one or more – but not all – of [...]

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The Great Certification Bottleneck

While ONC has been moving at a pretty good clip since December when it released the Meaningful Use NPRM and Certification IFR, right up until the announcement this week of its final temporary certification program, it’s apparent just how jammed up its timeline is becoming. The temporary program seems clear enough, as there is minimal [...]

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TEXT/PODCAST: Bell Named CCHIT Chair

Karen Bell, Chair, CCHIT

Karen Bell, M.D. — most recently SVP, Health Information Technology Services with Masspro — has been named chair of CCHIT, effective April 26. Prior to her tenure at Masspro, the federally-contracted QIO within Massachusetts, Bell was director, Office of Health Information Technology Adoption and acting deputy at ONC, and was ONC’s representative on CCHIT’s board of commissioners from 2006 to 2008. She also has served as division director for the quality improvement group, office of standards and quality for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and medical director, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, among other positions.

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