High level review of new proposed certification process

With the recent publication of the Proposed Establishement of Certification Progreams for Health Information Technology, it has been the most anticipated item since the meaningful use proposed requirements. As many have anticipated, CCHIT is in fact on top of the list of the most likely to become the certification body or the (ONC-ACB) ONC Authorized Certification Body.

While most or possibly all the proposed rule focuses on what are the requirements on the certification body, testing and accreditation. The HIT recemendations very much in line with the CCHIT and that also includes the costs of the actual certification which still range from 30,000 to 50,000 dollars for complete EHR/EMR or 5,000 to 30,000 dollars for modules.

The document outlines some estimates on what products will be tested, including statistics on Commercial/Open Source EHR products, Commercial/Open Source EHR Modules and Self-Developed Complete EHRs modules. The total count of products tested is about 181.

The document also outlines that there will be addiotional certifications that the ONC will potentially use for other technologies. The reference was made to the Personal Health Records (PHR) as well as Health Information Exchange (HIE).