Hospitals favoring CCHIT-certified vendors

It looks like the OK from the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) is starting to become important to health IT managers. New data from the HIMSS Analytics Database found that 85 percent of hospitals contracting to buy IT equipment signed with a CCHIT-certified vendor since November 2007.

HIMSS Analytics collects and analyzes healthcare data from more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals. It looks at a wide range of issues around health IT acquisition, including IT processes and environments, costs and management metrics, products and purchasing decisions.

CCHIT certifications have been particularly helpful in helping IT departments pick acute-care EMR products, HIMSS Analytics researchers said. Health IT executives also have found that a CCHIT certification gives them confidence that they're buying an interoperable product, a critical issue given the need to share clinical data throughout facilities, systems and regional health information networks. 

To learn more about the study:
- read this Healthcare IT News article [1]

Related Articles:
CCHIT to certify e-prescribing systems [2]
CCHIT plans to incorporate HHS framework for PHRs [3]
Privacy should be No. 1 PHR priority, CCHIT committee says [4]
CCHIT makes EMR certification simpler [5]