CHIME is urging HHS to extend the concept of certification to the health information exchange marketplace to advance interoperability and improve data flow. In comments submitted Thursday in response to a request for information (RFI) from CMS and ONC, CHIME pushed for a strategy that enables local flexibility, while leading stakeholders in the development of […]
CHIME Supports ONC’s Patient Safety Plan
In comments submitted to the ONC yesterday, CHIME voiced its support for the agency’s Patient Safety Action & Surveillance Plan, stating that it agrees with the proposed approach to leverage existing policy levers and programs within HHS, rather than create another federal entity to improve health IT safety. “CHIME applauds ONC’s efforts to conceptualize its […]
Mostashari Tapped to Lead ONC
Farzad Mostashari, M.D., has been selected as ONC’s new National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Mostashari joined ONC in July 2009, serving as the Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy. Previously, he served at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as Assistant Commissioner for the Primary Care Information Project. Mostashari replaces […]
The Next National Coordinator Must Get Real
It appears everyone was surprised by the announcement from ONC HIT Coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal that he will be departing his government post to return to academic life. By all accounts he is a great guy and I wish him all the best. I would suggest that when Dr. Blumenthal is replaced, the administration should appoint someone that has a more intimate knowledge of the reality of health care IT operations and what it really takes to achieve healthcare IT objectives.
Blumenthal Done at ONC
Don’t Let ONC’s Numbers Fool You
If ever the expression “the devil’s in the details” was called for, it’s around meaningful use. In fact, the words seem tailor made for the program. That much was made crystal clear during testimony last week by those who’ve made inroads toward meeting requirements which sometimes behave like slippery eels when grasped. Read the rest […]
healthsystemCIO.com SnapSurvey: CIOs Confident Vendors Will Deliver
Almost 80 percent of CIOs feel their strategic vendors will be up to the challenge of helping them qualify for Stage 1 Meaningful Use incentives, according to the September healthsystemCIO.com Advisory Panel SnapSurvey. And in what will come as welcome news to those at ONC crafting EMR certification policy, 60 percent said any software upgrades […]
Meaningful Use Training Targets Next Steps
After working for more than a year to develop its Meaningful Use and Certification rules, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) are focused on ensuring healthcare providers know how to enroll in the soon-to-be-launched incentive program. In a “free training” session held […]
CMS on Meaningful Use: 1 Stage Down, 2 to Go
Much of what will become Meaningful Use Stage 2 can be found in the recently released Stage 1, according to comments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Tony Trenkle, who spoke during this month’s HIT Policy Committee meeting. Meaningful Use Stage 2, he said, will expand on Stage 1 by making the current “menu” set part of future core requirements. Trenkle, director of the CMS Office of e-Health Standards and Services, said the organization also wanted to get certain administrative requirements — which were included in the NPRM but dropped from the final regulation— along higher CPOE levels, into Stage 2.
CHIME Concerned w/Elements of Temporary Certification
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. 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.