ONC to meet with potential CCHIT alternatives
SEATTLE—Here’s a juicy rumor from the first day of the sixth annual Healthcare Unbound conference: the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is planning a July meeting with several people considering starting up certification bodies to compete with the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.
I say it’s a rumor because I haven’t been able to confirm this information yet. It does make plenty of sense, though. ONC head Dr. David Blumenthal wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine back in March that “many certified EHRs are neither user-friendly nor designed to meet HITECH’s ambitious goal of improving quality and efficiency in the health care system.”
This does not mean that CCHIT will get frozen out of the certification process, just that it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the federal government recognizes more than one certifying entity.
Neil,How did you come across this rumor? Is there any validity to it? Who are the people involved? This could be an important development.Thanks,Jim Tate
Jim,I came across this in a conversation I had at the Healthcare Unbound conference in Seattle on Monday. The source is someone in regular contact with ONC, and, given Blumenthal's past statements, it seems valid. I don't know the names of the people involved. NV
The Health IT Policy Committee, which Blumenthal chairs, is scheduled next to meet July 19, 2009. Perhaps this is your "rumor"? The HIT Policy Committee is developing a national health IT policy (first one ever), and should come forward with EHR certification criteria based on this policy in the next month or so. See hereRobert Rowley, MDChief Medical OfficerPractice Fusion, Inc