HHS Releases NPRM for Two EHR Certification Stages

Necessary to healthcare adoption of EHR technologies are rules for certifying those HIT’s.  CMS will need to establish what is necessary for EHR certification in order for participating Medicare and Medicaid providers to qualify for HITECH Act incentive dollars for installing such technologies.  To that end, the Department of Health and Human Services HIT unit has released a Proposed Establishment of Certification Programs for Health Information Technology (http://www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-04991_PI.pdf) Notice of Public Rule Making (NPRM) putting forward its intentions on how the process will transpire.

Two proposals have been made in order to carry this process towards a permanent certification program.  The first allows for a temporary certification program, authorizing “...organizations to test and certify Complete EHRs and/or EHR Modules, thereby assuring the availability of Certified EHR Technology prior to the reporting period in which health care providers may seek the incentive payments available under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentives Program demonstrating meaningful use of Certified EHR Technology.” (http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&mode=2&objID=1746zzzzzzzzzzz)

The second proposal provides for the permanent certification program which will replace the temporary one.  Both programs will overlap during Q1 2012, with the permanent one fully replacing the temporary one in Q2 2012.  While the temporary one requires organizations to “…perform both the testing and certification of Complete EHRs and/or EHR Modules,” with accredited test labs performing the testing, the permanent one only requires organizations to perform certification.  Additionally, under the temporary program, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will oversee accreditation, but that function will be assigned to private organization under the permanent program.  ONC intends for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) to fulfill that role.

As these government programs are in the proposal stage, they are open to public comment.  HHS has provided a site, http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480a7c48a, where written comments can be submitted electronically.

For additional information on the proposal, HHS has provided a “Facts-At-A-Glace” page at http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&mode=2&objID=1746 and an FAQs page at http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&mode=2&objID=1747.