CCHIT Update

by Samuel Rubinsztain

We are one step closer to the final rule on meaningful use. The 60-day comment period was closed on March 15th and now the CMS and ONC will focus on analyzing and addressing these comments in order to finalize the Meaningful Use rules.

With over 2000 comments on Meaningful Use for the CMS and 700 on Standards & Criteria for the ONC. We are expecting the final rule sometime in the Summer. Under the new law only government-accredited certification bodies will be able to certify Health Information technology for Meaningful Use. The Notice of proposed rulemaking on Certification programs was published on March 9th and the Public comment period will be open for the interim program until April 9th and the permanent program until May 9th. At this time CCHIT has halted all activities related to Meaningful Use certification until April 7th so they can update the testing criteria.

In a recent post in the CCHIT site Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D. CCHIT's chair said "a lot more is needed before government-accredited EHR certification can take place: finalization of meaningful use equirements, standards, certification criteria, testing procedures, and, of course, the accreditation of testing and certifying bodies."

We are planning on certifying our products during the 3rd quarter this year provided that the Final rule is in effect and that CCHIT becomes an accredited-certifying body by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). This will allow our user base to participate in the early adopter program starting in 2011 and 2012. By using gGastro, gUro or gCardio our users will be able to take advantage of the full incentive (Up to $44,000) established in the HITECH Act by using the system in compliance with the Meaningful Use criteria for 90 consecutive days.

As we await the final rule our team continues to implement more requirements included in the interim final rule and CCHIT certification criteria to better prepare our products for final certification and provide our user base an easy experience to apply for the Meaningful Use incentives. Our analysis team is already working with CCHIT to clarify all requirements under the interim final rule.