CHICAGO – June 17, 2010 – The Certification Commission announced today that it has selected two new, all-volunteer work group panels to develop criteria for electronic health records (EHRs) in women’s health and in oncology, the latest domains to be added to CCHIT’s independently-developed certification programs. It also announced the launch of new certification programs for behavioral health, dermatology and long-term and post-acute care on July 26, 2010.
“We rely on the broad expertise of our work group volunteers for development of the criteria and inspection processes for our CCHIT Certified programs for special practice areas. This development process includes evaluating provider needs, understanding currently available standards, analyzing public response to drafted criteria and test scripts, and publishing a future roadmap of certification requirements,” said Karen Bell, M.D., commission chair. “More than 75 people volunteered to participate in these new work groups, which underscores the continued high level of interest and dedication of the health care community to work with the commission in achieving its mission of accelerating the adoption of health IT.”
The volunteers – 13 for women’s health and 15 for oncology – were appointed by the certification commission following an open application process. The members represent a diverse range of health care stakeholders chosen for their individual experience and fair balance, including physicians, hospitals and other providers, health IT developers, and other representative organizations. To achieve an even higher level of accountability and transparency, CCHIT limits health IT vendor participation on the commission’s work groups to no more than 33 percent, including any provider applicants who may receive compensation from a vendor.
