Two of three Stage 1 attesters have 2014 edition certified products available

Vendors slowly but surely are moving to 2014 certification criteria needed for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use, according to a recent blog post published by officials at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. Steven Posnack, director of ONC's federal policy division, and Dustin Charles, a public health analyst at ONC, explained that currently, two out of three providers who have previously attested to Meaningful Use have a 2014 edition certification EHR product available from their 2011 edition vendor. Posnack and Charles also clarified that of the vendors on the 2011 edition certification list, 59 percent of vendors of ambulatory care products have had at least one provider attest, and 51 percent of vendors of hospital products have had at least one provider attest.

The 2014 certification criteria also allow for more flexibility. For instance, according to Posnack and Charles, a "complete" EHR no longer is needed to meet the definition of certified EHR technology and demonstrative Meaningful Use. Blog post