The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) will publish next month the results of surveys its 10 workgroups conducted as a prelude to pushing an expanded program for certification of technology used in electronic health records.
The surveys, named environmental scans, collect information on standards, use cases and other emerging needs for health IT, and are the first step to setting requirements for 2008 certifications.
Publication of the scans Sept. 13 will be followed by a 30-day public comment period for input from industry and other health care stakeholders, with a first draft of the 2008 certification criteria expected in late November.
The scans are in line with an aggressive expansion of the certification program announced earlier this year, said CCHIT Chairman Mark Leavitt.
A year ago the program was involved with only two primary areas -– ambulatory and inpatient -– but now also covers foundation, network (health information exchanges), emergency, cardiovascular, pediatrics, interoperability, security, privacy and compliance.
The expansion marks a major switch in the attitude of health care stakeholders, Leavitt said.
“In the first year many just weren’t sure of they wanted certification at all,” he said. “Now they are asking us why we aren’t involved in their [specialty] area.”
A series of three Town Call teleconferences are scheduled for Sept. 19 to discuss the 10 workgroup topics, with presentations on each to be followed by question-and-answer sessions.
Separately, CCHIT announced that seven products had received certification under the enhanced 2007 criteria for ambulatory EHR products, six of which were developed by companies that also certified products in 2006.
From the battlefield to the home front: Managing medical data
Government Health IT presents Col. Claude Hines Jr., program manager for the Defense Health Information Management System, in this recent InSight eSeminar. Col. Hines discusses the health information technology and tactical challenges faced by the military medical community in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of conflict. In doing so, he describes the current information technology solutions for transferring clinical data between battlefield care givers to health care personnel at military treatment facilities worldwide.
