To the surprise of no one, Mike Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has designated the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) as the department’s first recognized certification body.
The designation means hospitals can donate CCHIT-certified software to doctors without fear of running afoul of the Stark and anti-kickback laws. Those laws prevent hospitals from rewarding doctors for sending their patients to the hospitals.
In rules published this summer, HHS established safe harbors from the laws for donations of e-health records software that a recognized certification body certifies as interoperable.
Established by major industry associations in 2004, CCHIT reviews EHR software at software vendors’ request to determine whether the products meet minimum standards for functionality, interoperability and security. A $2.7 million HHS contract supports the nonprofit organization.
CCHIT announced this week that it has certified 11 more EHR products for use in doctors’ offices, bringing the total to 33. To receive certification, a product must comply with all of the more than 200 criteria that CCHIT has adopted so far.
The organization plans to annually update the criteria and will include more interoperability standards as they are approved by the Health IT Standards Panel, which HHS supports.
CCHIT is also preparing to certify EHRs for hospitals’ and in-patient care providers’ use.
The ultimate aim of the certification program is to reduce the risks associated with buying and installing EHR software. Software for a doctor’s office can cost about $30,000, and about 30 percent of doctors revert to paper-based records.
Government Health IT presents Liesa Jo Jenkins, executive director of CareSpark, in this recent eSeminar, where she shared her experiences and insight into building a health information exchange that enhances community health, rewards regional collaboration and drives economic progress.
