Journal of AHIMA - October 2011

1,000 Choices

No Shortage of Products Certified
for Meaningful Use

ELIGIBLE PROFESSIONALS AND HOSPITALS participating in the federal meaningful use incentive program must use EHR products that have been certified for use in the program. A key piece to launching the meaningful use program has been designing and creating the certification process.

A final rule creating a temporary certification was published in June 2010, and the first products were certified that fall. By early September 2011, the number of approved products stood at 1,155.

Six organizations are approved to test and certify products: CCHIT, Drummond Group, InfoGard, ICSA Labs, Surescripts, and SLI Global. CCHIT, among the first to be approved, has certified the bulk of products to date: 58 percent of inpatient products and 44 percent of ambulatory ones. Drummond Group has approved the second largest share: 29 percent of inpatient and 38 percent of ambulatory products.

PERMANENT PROGRAM BEGINS 2012

A permanent certification program is scheduled to begin January 1, 2012, if all the pieces are in place. The new program features a greater separation of powers in approving organizations to test and certify health IT products.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology will accredit organizations to test products. Those organizations must use tools and procedures either approved or developed by NIST. The American National Standards Institute will accredit organizations to certify EHRs. All certification bodies must apply to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

Organizations currently approved under the temporary program will not receive automatic approval for the permanent program. They must receive accreditation under the new process.

Products certified under the temporary program, however, will remain certified under the permanent program. They will require additional certification when new system standards and criteria are mandated under later stages of the meaningful use program. “Gap” certification will allow previously certified products to be tested only on new or revised criteria as they are established.