CCHIT halts ARRA certification until it can be accredited

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology is halting testing of EHR products against "Stage 1" criteria for meaningful use until the organization earns accreditation from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

"We have reviewed the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [released earlier this month] regarding certifying bodies, and we feel confident about our prospects of becoming accredited. We plan to file an application with the Office of the National Coordinator as soon as it is ready to accept them. Until CCHIT becomes accredited, we are suspending any initial or incremental Modular testing until we can test against an accredited Stage 1 ARRA test script," reads a notice posted on the CCHIT website. CCHIT has scheduled a public "town call" via telephone and the web for Thursday at 3 p.m., CDT to discuss its plans.

The decision comes as CCHIT formally submitted comments to ONC on the interim final rule on standards and certification of EHRs, in which the organization warns of an "unintended deceleration in the pace of adoption" because the rule is too complex in some areas and contradictory in others. "A particular concern surrounds the reporting of quality measures, with the IFR calling for standards and measures that are yet to be defined or that require significant revision to make them computable from EHR-based data," CCHIT says.

Meanwhile, the Drummond Group, a potential competitor to CCHIT, confirmed its intention to apply for ONC accreditation as a certification body.

For more:
- read this CCHIT notice
- find out how to participate in the CCHIT town call
- check out this Government Health IT story
- read this Drummond Group blog post

Related Articles:
HIMSS10: ONC proposes two-phase EHR certification plan
CCHIT to launch 'modular' certification in October