Stage 1 Meaningful Use certification criteria may change even after the “final” regulations are issued sometime this summer, necessitating the ongoing need to certify HIT products for the foreseeable future, according to CHIME’s interpretation of the ONC Temporary Certification Program.
However, in what it found to be a positive development, the authorized testing and certification bodies recognized by ONC (ONC-ATCBs) can not require that integrated bundled EHRs or EHR modules be certified to a higher set of standards than the certification criteria set by the ONC.
More good news was found in the fact that regulations don’t require an application be live at a customer’s site before it is tested, opening the way for testing of applications at vendors’ facilities.
But the organization still is concerned that a product’s certification can be revoked for some “Type 1” violations by an ONC-ATCB that would prompt questions about the integrity of the certification of those products. If a product loses certification, a healthcare organization would have 120 days to secure a certified product, either by the vendor having its product re-certified by a different ATCB or installing another certified product.
“While the loss of a product’s certification is unlikely, any such occurrence will probably affect hundreds of provider organizations and could place them under extreme stress to resolve the issue quickly,” CHIME said.
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