More than two dozen health information technology vendors have applied to have their electronic health record systems independently certified this summer.
The inspection process is underway and the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) is expected to make the first announcement of certified products this month, according to CCHIT chair Dr. Mark Leavitt.
CCHIT was launched in 2004 by the American Health Information Management Association, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology to establish baseline criteria for EHR products and provide a seal of approval to products that meet those standards. CCHIT received a 3-year grant from the Department of Health and Human Services in September 2005.
In this first round of applications, CCHIT is evaluating products from across the spectrum, including EHR systems for the small office to those for large clinics, Dr. Leavitt said at a meeting of the American Health Information Community. This group advises HHS on health IT interoperability issues.
The more than two dozen applications received represent only a small fraction of the 200 or so vendors who have products available commercially, but it is about double what CCHIT officials had expected in the first round, Dr. Leavitt said.
Physicians have been heavily involved in the evaluation of products, Dr. Leavitt said. Of the 175 people who volunteered to evaluate products during 8-hour demonstration sessions, about 80% were practicing physicians. “I think the providers are interested in this,” he said.
“Plug and play” systems that will not require a practice to spend $50,000 on an interface compose one CCHIT goal, Dr. Leavitt said at Toward an Electronic Patient Record, an annual conference sponsored by the Medical Records Institute.
CCHIT plans to review and certify EHR products for the ambulatory setting on a quarterly basis. In 2007, the group will begin certification of EHR products for the inpatient setting, and CCHIT will tackle certification of EHR networks in the spring of 2008.
Nancy Nickell, associate editor for Practice Trends, contributed to this report.