Commission Announces Launch Of Women's Health, Oncology And Clinical Research Certification For Electronic Health Records

June 2 Webcast Details New CCHIT Certified® Programs for Ambulatory Practice EHRs

CHICAGO - May 17, 2011 - The Certification Commission announced today the launch of electronic health record (EHR) certification programs in Women's Health (obstetrics), Oncology and Clinical Research, the latest clinical domains to be added to CCHIT's independently-developed ambulatory EHR programs.  Criteria and test scripts for the new programs are available now. A Town Call webcast about the new programs will be held at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, June 2, 2011, and CCHIT will begin accepting applications on that date at www.cchit.org

"These newest certifications, designed to satisfy special medical or practice requirements, are part of our comprehensive CCHIT Certified® program, which goes beyond the federal EHR certification criteria in order to meet clinicians' long-term needs for integrated functionality, interoperability and security," said Karen M. Bell, MD, MMS, CCHIT chair.  CCHIT also offers special EHR certification programs for Cardiovascular Medicine, Child Health, Emergency Departments, Behavioral Health, Dermatology and Long-Term and Post-Acute Care. Bell will take some time during the Town Call to talk briefly about these programs and CCHIT's ideas for the future of its independent program.

"We are grateful for the expertise and significant contribution of the work group volunteers who developed the criteria and inspection processes for the latest CCHIT Certified® programs for specialty practices.  This development process included evaluating provider needs and currently available standards, analyzing public response to drafted criteria and test scripts, and pilot testing the proposed test scripts with vendor volunteers," she said.

"The investment in an EHR is one of the most costly decisions for an oncologist to commit to and one that has to be done right.  Realizing the potential for improvement in patient safety and cancer care can only be done with systems that have robust capability to support oncology.  CCHIT's Oncology certification is the best way for oncologists to know which system has what it takes to get the job done," said Peter Yu, M.D., director, Cancer Research, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and co-chair of CCHIT's Oncology Work Group.

"Clinical research is a major mission for the oncology community as well as other medical groups.  The establishment of Clinical Research certification by CCHIT is a critical step forward in encouraging the adoption of certified products by our colleagues, which has great potential to improve patient safety, clinical efficiency, and clinical trials performance.  The American Society of Clinical Oncology strongly supports this initiative to facilitate high quality clinical research," said Lawrence Shulman, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president for Medical Affairs, and chief, Division of General Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and co-chair of CCHIT's Clinical Research Work Group.

"As an ONC authorized testing and certification body (ONC-ATCB), CCHIT also offers certification that meets the minimum federal criteria for meaningful use, which is a requirement to receive incentive payments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  At the same time, we remain committed to raising the certification bar with our CCHIT Certified products that are tested against more rigorous criteria and are designed for physicians, hospitals and other clinical settings wanting greater assurance that their EHR products will support their individual business and patient care needs.  To that end the CCHIT Certified process also includes verification of successful use at live sites and a rating of product usability," Bell said.  Most CCHIT Certified products are also certified under the ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 program.
 
Vendors participating in the pilot tests for these new programs included:

Women's Health
digiChart, Inc., Nashville, Tenn.
Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc., Carrollton, Ga.
MDTablet, LLC, East Brunswick, N.J.

Oncology
Allscripts, Chicago, Ill.
Glenwood Systems LLC, Waterbury, Conn.
MedSym, Inc., Birmingham, Ala.

Clinical Research
Agastha, Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
Cerner Corporation, Kansas City, Mo.
MCS - Medical Communication System, Inc., Old Bridge, N.J.

About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology. The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is approved by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB).  More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and ONC-ATCB certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org.

"CCHIT®" and "CCHIT Certified®" are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.