NIST awards contract to create EHR certification system
By Mary Mosquera
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The
National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
a contract to help develop a testing method and processes for certifying
electronic health record systems.
The
$400,000 contract, announced Jan. 13, calls for the consulting firm to help
NIST build a testing framework for health IT, a certification “process
document” and other planning tools. NIST announced the short-term contract on
the Federal Business Opportunities Web site Jan. 13.
The work
is part of a larger contract BAH already has with NIST for health IT consulting
services, according to the announcement. The just-announced contract will
provide a bridge until NIST finishes a competition for providers to complete
the work.
NIST said
it had two goals for the program: to develop testing and certification
documents to help set up a health IT certification program, and to set up a
“proficiency testing framework” for authorizing certification and testing
organizations.
NIST was
provided $20 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help
the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT build a “testing
infrastructure that support the security and interoperability of EHR systems,”
according to the agency.
The terms of the recent meaningful use rules require providers to use certified
EHR systems to qualify for federal health IT incentives. Dr. David Blumenthal,
the national health IT coordinator, has said that he will announce early this
year a process through which a number of different organizations could certify
EHR systems.
Currently,
the Certification Commission for Health IT is the sole organization set up to
certify the performance of EHR systems.
